Systems and methods for providing social media with an intelligent television

ABSTRACT

An Intelligent Television provides unique user interfaces and user interface interactions to provide social media. The interfaces and interface are intuitive and allow the user to quickly retrieve and view social media with respect to content displayed on the Intelligent Television. Further, intuitive user interface interactions are provided to allow for the quick and efficient posting of social media from the Intelligent Television to a social media site.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefits of and priority, under 35U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 61/684,672filed Aug. 17, 2012, “Smart TV”; 61/702,650 filed Sep. 18, 2012, “SmartTV”; 61/697,710 filed Sep. 6, 2012, “Social TV”; 61/700,182 filed Sep.12, 2012, “Social TV Roadmap”; 61/736,692 filed Dec. 13, 2012,“SmartTV”; 61/798,821 filed Mar. 15, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/804,942 filedMar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/804,998 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”;61/804,971 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/804,990 filed Mar. 25,2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,003 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,053filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,030 filed Mar. 25, 2013,“SmartTV”; 61/805,027 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,042 filedMar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; and 61/805,038 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV.”Each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated herein by referencein their entirety for all that they teach and for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Consolidation of device features or technological convergence is in anincreasing trend. Technological convergence describes the tendency fordifferent technological systems to evolve toward performing similartasks. As people use more devices, the need to carry those devices,charge those devices, update software on those devices, etc. becomesmore cumbersome. To compensate for these problems, technology companieshave been integrating features from different devices into one or twomulti-functional devices. For example, cellular phones are now capableof accessing the Internet, taking photographs, providing calendarfunctions, etc.

The consolidation trend is now affecting the design and functionality ofdevices generally used in the home. For example, audio receivers canaccess the Internet, digital video recorders can store or provide accessto digital photographs, etc. The television in home audio/video systemsremains a cornerstone device because the display function cannot beintegrated into other devices. As such, consolidating home devices leadsto integrating features and functionality into the television. Theemergence of the Smart Television (Smart TV) is evidence of the trend toconsolidate functionality into the television.

A Smart TV is generally conceived as a device that integrates access tothe Internet and Web 2.0 features into television sets. The Smart TVrepresents the trend of technological convergence between computers andtelevision sets. The Smart TV generally focuses on online interactivemedia, Internet TV, on-demand streaming media, and generally does notfocus on traditional broadcast media. Unfortunately, most Smart TVs haveyet to provide seamless and intuitive user interfaces for navigatingand/or executing the various features of the Smart TV. As such, thereare still issues with the consolidation of features and the presentationof these features in Smart TVs.

SUMMARY

There is a need for an Intelligent TV with intuitive user interfaces andwith seamless user interaction capability. These and other needs areaddressed by the various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations ofthe present disclosure. Also, while the disclosure is presented in termsof exemplary embodiments, it should be appreciated that individualaspects of the disclosure can be separately claimed.

A method for providing an indication of a linkage to a poster of socialmedia, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor of anintelligent television, two or more social media postings; providing avisual representation of the social media postings; in the visualrepresentation, providing a first visual indicia for a first posting anda second visual indicia for a second posting; and wherein the first andsecond visual indicia are different and indicate the linkage between afirst poster of the first posting or a second poster of the secondposting.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the linkage is a friendon a social media site, a subscription to a social media fee, or afollowing on a social media site.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual representationis a pile view of the social media postings.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual indicia is ahorizontal placement of a thumbnail, representing the first poster orsecond poster, in the pile view.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a thumbnail closer to acenterline of the pile view has a closer linkage.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual indicia is avertical placement of a thumbnail, representing the first poster orsecond poster, in the pile view.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a vertical placementnearer a top of the pile view has a closer linkage.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual indicia is asize of the thumbnail in the pile view.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a poster represented by alarger thumbnail has a closer linkage.

An aspect of the above method wherein a location of a thumbnail in auser interface of the intelligent television indicates a poster has acloser linkage.

An aspect of the above method wherein the first poster has a closerlinkage than a second linkage.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable toreceive two or more social media postings; execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to: provide a visual representation ofthe social media postings; in the visual representation, provide a firstvisual indicia f An aspect of the above method includes or a firstposting and a second visual indicia for a second posting; and whereinthe first and second visual indicia are different and indicate thelinkage between a first poster of the first posting or a second posterof the second posting.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe linkage is a friend on a social media site, a subscription to asocial media fee, or a following on a social media site, and wherein thefirst poster has a closer linkage than a second linkage.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe visual representation is a pile view of the social media postings.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe visual indicia is one or more of: a horizontal placement of athumbnail, representing the first poster or second poster, in the pileview, wherein a thumbnail closer to a centerline of the pile view has acloser linkage; a vertical placement of a thumbnail, representing thefirst poster or second poster, in the pile view, wherein a verticalplacement nearer a top of the pile view has a closer linkage; and a sizeof the thumbnail in the pile view, wherein a poster represented by alarger thumbnail has a closer linkage.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes wherein alocation of a thumbnail in a user interface of the intelligenttelevision indicates a poster has a closer linkage.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thelinkage is a friend on a social media site, a subscription to a socialmedia fee, or a following on a social media site, and wherein the firstposter has a closer linkage than a second linkage.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thevisual representation is a pile view of the social media postings.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thevisual indicia is one or more of: a horizontal placement of a thumbnail,representing the first poster or second poster, in the pile view,wherein a thumbnail closer to a centerline of the pile view has a closerlinkage; a vertical placement of a thumbnail, representing the firstposter or second poster, in the pile view, wherein a vertical placementnearer a top of the pile view has a closer linkage; and a size of thethumbnail in the pile view, wherein a poster represented by a largerthumbnail has a closer linkage.

A method for providing a rooting section for an intelligent television,the method comprising: receiving, by a processor of an intelligenttelevision, two or more social media postings; receiving a selection forsporting content on the intelligent television; based on the selection,providing a first visual representation of one or more of the socialmedia postings associated with a first team affiliation; and providing asecond visual representation of one or more of the social media postingsassociated with a second team affiliation.

An aspect of the above method further comprises determining a teamaffiliation for at least one of posters of the two or more social mediapostings.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first visualrepresentation is a first pile view of the one social media postingsassociated with a first team affiliation and the first visualrepresentation is a second pile view of the one social media postingsassociated with a second team affiliation.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first pile view andthe second pile view are in different locations on a user interface ofthe intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a first visual indicia isprovided with the first pile view and a second visual indicia isprovided with the second pile view, and wherein the first and secondvisual indicia indicate teams, sports organizations, or athletes towhich the first and second pile views are associated.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first and secondvisual indicia are a team logos.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user interfacefurther includes a score.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving social mediacontent associated with the sporting content; determining to which teamaffiliation the social media content applies; and displaying the socialmedia content in physical proximity to the first or second pile view.

An aspect of the above method further comprises determining a teamaffiliation for a user of the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a socialmedia posting from the user; and displaying the social media postingfrom the user in physical proximity to first or second pile view towhich the user is associated.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable toreceive two or more social media postings; execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to: receive a selection for sportingcontent on the intelligent television; based on the selection, provide afirst visual representation of one or more of the social media postingsassociated with a first team affiliation; and provide a second visualrepresentation of one or more of the social media postings associatedwith a second team affiliation.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to determine a teamaffiliation for at least one of posters of the two or more social mediapostings.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to: receive socialmedia content associated with the sporting content; determine to whichteam affiliation the social media content applies; and wherein the userinterface application is further operable to display the social mediacontent in physical proximity to the first or second pile view.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe first visual representation is a first pile view of the one socialmedia postings associated with a first team affiliation and the firstvisual representation is a second pile view of the one social mediapostings associated with a second team affiliation, wherein the firstpile view and the second pile view are in different locations on a userinterface of the intelligent television, wherein a first visual indiciais provided with the first pile view and a second visual indicia isprovided with the second pile view, and wherein the first and secondvisual indicia indicate teams, sports organizations, or athletes towhich the first and second pile views are associated, wherein the firstand second visual indicia are a team logos, and wherein the userinterface further includes a score.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to: determine a teamaffiliation for a user of the intelligent television; receive a socialmedia posting from the user; and wherein the user interface applicationis further operable to display the social media posting from the user inphysical proximity to first or second pile view to which the user isassociated.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to determine a team affiliation for at least one of postersof the two or more social media postings.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: receive social media content associated with thesporting content; determine to which team affiliation the social mediacontent applies; and display the social media content in physicalproximity to the first or second pile view.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thefirst visual representation is a first pile view of the one social mediapostings associated with a first team affiliation and the first visualrepresentation is a second pile view of the one social media postingsassociated with a second team affiliation, wherein the first pile viewand the second pile view are in different locations on a user interfaceof the intelligent television, wherein a first visual indicia isprovided with the first pile view and a second visual indicia isprovided with the second pile view, and wherein the first and secondvisual indicia indicate teams, sports organizations, or athletes towhich the first and second pile views are associated, wherein the firstand second visual indicia are a team logos, and wherein the userinterface further includes a score.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine a team affiliation for a user of theintelligent television; receive a social media posting from the user;and display the social media posting from the user in physical proximityto first or second pile view to which the user is associated.

A method for providing social media on an intelligent television, themethod comprising: identifying a user of the intelligent television;register user with one or more social media sites; and providing socialmedia posting associated with the user on an user interface of theintelligent television.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user is identifiedautomatically.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user is identified byfacial recognition, voice recognition, or other biometric information.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining if the useris a new user of the intelligent television; if the user is a new userof the intelligent television, obtaining credentials for the one or moresocial media sites; storing the credentials for the one or more socialmedia sites; and if the user is not a new user of the intelligenttelevision, retrieving credentials for the user for the one or moresocial media sites.

An aspect of the above method further comprises recording content whichthe user is viewing.

An aspect of the above method further comprises publishing the record ofthe content which the user is viewing.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user receives two ormore social media postings.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the two or more socialmedia postings originate from two or more social media sites.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the two or more socialmedia sites are presented as a social media pile in the user interface.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media pileincludes a visual representation of at least one poster associated withat least one of the two or more social media postings.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:identify a user of the intelligent television; register user with one ormore social media sites; retrieve one or more social media postings fromthe one or more social media sites; and execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to provide social media postingassociated with the user on an user interface of the intelligenttelevision.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user is identified automatically, and wherein the user is identifiedby facial recognition, voice recognition, or other biometricinformation.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to: determine if theuser is a new user of the intelligent television; if the user is a newuser of the intelligent television, obtain credentials for the one ormore social media sites; store the credentials for the one or moresocial media sites; and if the user is not a new user of the intelligenttelevision, retrieve credentials for the user for the one or more socialmedia sites.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to: comprise recordingcontent which the user is viewing; and publish the record of the contentwhich the user is viewing.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user receives two or more social media postings, wherein the two ormore social media postings originate from two or more social mediasites, wherein the two or more social media sites are presented as asocial media pile in the user interface, and wherein the social mediapile includes a visual representation of at least one poster associatedwith at least one of the two or more social media postings.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theuser is identified automatically, and wherein the user is identified byfacial recognition, voice recognition, or other biometric information.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine if the user is a new user of the intelligenttelevision; if the user is a new user of the intelligent television,obtain credentials for the one or more social media sites; store thecredentials for the one or more social media sites; and if the user isnot a new user of the intelligent television, retrieve credentials forthe user for the one or more social media sites.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: comprise recording content which the user is viewing;and publish the record of the content which the user is viewing.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theuser receives two or more social media postings, wherein the two or moresocial media postings originate from two or more social media sites,wherein the two or more social media sites are presented as a socialmedia pile in the user interface, and wherein the social media pileincludes a visual representation of at least one poster associated withat least one of the two or more social media postings.

A method for providing social media information on an intelligenttelevision, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor of anintelligent television, a selection of programming for the intelligenttelevision; determining the availability of social media for theselected programming; receiving one or more social media postings; andproviding a visual representation of one or more of the social mediapostings associated with selected programming.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual representationis located in a first position in a first user interface and in a secondposition in a second user interface.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual representationis a pile view of the one social media postings.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the selection ofprogramming is a channel change in live television, and wherein the pileview is presented at a bottom location of a user interface providinglive television programming.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the selection ofprogramming is a selection of video on demand content or live televisioncontent, and wherein the pile view is presented in a header of a userinterface providing either video on demand or live televisionprogramming.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the selection ofprogramming is a selection of a sporting event, and wherein the pileview is presented as a rooting section in a user interface providing thesporting event.

An aspect of the above method further comprises determining a type ofselection and wherein the visual representation is positioned in aprovided user interface based on the type of selection.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining a change tothe social media postings; and providing a new visual representationbased on the change.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a secondselection; and providing a different visual representation based on thesecond selection.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a user selects theposition of the visual representation.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:determine the availability of social media for selected programming;receive one or more social media postings; execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to: receive, by a processor of anintelligent television, a selection of programming for the intelligenttelevision; and provide a visual representation of one or more of thesocial media postings associated with selected programming.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe visual representation is located in a first position in a first userinterface and in a second position in a second user interface.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe visual representation is a pile view of the one social mediapostings, wherein the selection of programming is one of a channelchange in live television or a selection of video on demand content, andwherein the pile view is presented at a bottom location of a userinterface providing video on demand or live television programming.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system further comprisesthe user interface application is operable to determine a type ofselection and wherein the visual representation is positioned in aprovided user interface based on the type of selection.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system further comprises:the social media application further operable to determine a change tothe social media postings; the user interface application is furtheroperable to: provide a new visual representation based on the change;receive a second selection; and provide a different visualrepresentation based on the second selection.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thevisual representation is located in a first position in a first userinterface and in a second position in a second user interface.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thevisual representation is a pile view of the one social media postings,wherein the selection of programming is one of a channel change in livetelevision or a selection of video on demand content, and wherein thepile view is presented at a bottom location of a user interfaceproviding video on demand or live television programming.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to determine a type of selection and wherein the visualrepresentation is positioned in a provided user interface based on thetype of selection.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine a change to the social media postings;provide a new visual representation based on the change; receive asecond selection; and provide a different visual representation based onthe second selection.

A method for providing social media information on an intelligenttelevision, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor of anintelligent television, a first selection to present social media;receiving one or more social media postings; presenting at least one ofthe one or more social media postings; receiving a second selection tochange a volume of social media; and in response to the secondselection, changing an amount of social media presented.

An aspect of the above method further comprises determining if thesecond selection is for inbound, outbound, or both inbound and outboundsocial media.

An aspect of the above method further comprises determining type for thesecond selection, wherein the type is an increase, a decrease, or amute.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein, if the second selectionis an increase, one of providing more social media postings, postingoutbound social media to more social media sites, or both providing moresocial media postings and posting outbound social media to more socialmedia sites.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein, if the second selectionis a decrease increase, one of providing fewer social media postings,posting outbound social media to fewer social media sites, or bothproviding fewer social media postings and posting outbound social mediato fewer social media sites.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein, if the second selectionis a mute, one of discontinuing a presentation of social media postings,discontinuing posting of outbound social media to social media sites, orboth discontinuing a presentation of social media postings anddiscontinuing posting of outbound social media to social media sites.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the second selection isreceived from a social media volume button on a remote control.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the second selectionchanges a social media volume, and wherein the social media volume hastwo or more levels.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media volumehas ten levels.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein increasing an outboundsocial media volume causes the intelligent television to post usersocial media content to more social media sites.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:receive a first selection to present social media; receive one or moresocial media postings; execute a user interface application incommunication with the social media application, the user interfaceapplication operable to: present at least one of the one or more socialmedia postings; receive a second selection to change a volume of socialmedia; and in response to the second selection, change an amount ofsocial media presented.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to: determine if thesecond selection is for inbound, outbound, or both inbound and outboundsocial media; and determine type for the second selection, wherein thetype is an increase, a decrease, or a mute.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes wherein,if the second selection is an increase, one of providing more socialmedia postings, posting outbound social media to more social mediasites, or both providing more social media postings and posting outboundsocial media to more social media sites, wherein, if the secondselection is a decrease increase, one of providing fewer social mediapostings, posting outbound social media to fewer social media sites, orboth providing fewer social media postings and posting outbound socialmedia to fewer social media sites, and wherein, if the second selectionis a mute, one of discontinuing a presentation of social media postings,discontinuing posting of outbound social media to social media sites, orboth discontinuing a presentation of social media postings anddiscontinuing posting of outbound social media to social media sites.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe second selection is received from a social media volume button on aremote control.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe second selection changes a social media volume, and wherein thesocial media volume has two or more levels.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine if the second selection is for inbound,outbound, or both inbound and outbound social media; and determine typefor the second selection, wherein the type is an increase, a decrease,or a mute.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein, if thesecond selection is an increase, one of providing more social mediapostings, posting outbound social media to more social media sites, orboth providing more social media postings and posting outbound socialmedia to more social media sites, wherein, if the second selection is adecrease increase, one of providing fewer social media postings, postingoutbound social media to fewer social media sites, or both providingfewer social media postings and posting outbound social media to fewersocial media sites, and wherein, if the second selection is a mute, oneof discontinuing a presentation of social media postings, discontinuingposting of outbound social media to social media sites, or bothdiscontinuing a presentation of social media postings and discontinuingposting of outbound social media to social media sites.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thesecond selection is received from a social media volume button on aremote control.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thesecond selection changes a social media volume, and wherein the socialmedia volume has two or more levels.

A method for providing social media information on an intelligenttelevision, the method comprising: connecting, by a processor of anintelligent television, the intelligent television to a network; theintelligent television discovering a device also connected to thenetwork; connecting the device to the intelligent television; a userpushes a social media message from the device; and displaying the socialmedia message on the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method further comprises the device connecting tothe network, wherein the intelligent television discovers the deviceafter the device connects to the network.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: after discovering thedevice, the intelligent television pushing an object, including auser-selectable interface device, to the device; receiving a selectionof the user-selectable interface device; and in response to receivingthe selection, connecting the device to the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the object displays acurrent media status for the intelligent television on a displayassociated with the device.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user pushes thesocial media message to a social media site.

An aspect of the above method further comprises relaying the socialmedia message from the device to the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method further comprises displaying the socialmedia message on the display associated with the device.

An aspect of the above method further comprises displaying the socialmedia message on a second display associated with a second device.

An aspect of the above method further comprises the intelligenttelevision posting, for the user, the social media message on the socialmedia site.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media messageis presented on the social media site.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: connect the intelligent television to a network;discover a device also connected to the network; connect the device tothe intelligent television; execute a social media application operableto receive a social media message pushed by the user from the device;execute a user interface application in communication with the socialmedia application, the user interface application operable to displaythe social media message on the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to: after discoveringthe device, push an object, including a user-selectable interfacedevice, to the device, wherein the object displays a current mediastatus for the intelligent television on a display associated with thedevice; receive a selection of the user-selectable interface device; andin response to receiving the selection, connect the device to theintelligent television.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system further comprisesthe object relaying the social media message from the device to theintelligent television, while displaying the social media message on thedisplay associated with the device.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes wherein asecond display on a second device displays the social media message.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to post, for the user,the social media message on the social media site, wherein the socialmedia message is presented on the social media site.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: after discovering the device, push an object, includinga user-selectable interface device, to the device, wherein the objectdisplays a current media status for the intelligent television on adisplay associated with the device; receive a selection of theuser-selectable interface device; and in response to receiving theselection, connect the device to the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theobject relays the social media message from the device to theintelligent television, while displaying the social media message on thedisplay associated with the device.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thesocial media application is further operable to post, for the user, thesocial media message on the social media site, wherein the social mediamessage is presented on the social media site.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein asecond display on a second device displays the social media message.

A method for providing media on an intelligent television, the methodcomprising: receiving, by a processor of an intelligent television, aselection to view media; retrieving available media from one or moresocial media sources; retrieving available media from one or more localsources; and presenting together media from both one or more socialmedia sources and one or more local sources.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the media is one of apicture file, a video file, or a music file.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining availablemedia from one or more social media sources; and determining availablemedia from one or more local sources.

An aspect of the above method further comprises providing, for at leastone item of media, a visual indicia of the social media source.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual indicia is alogo associated with a social media site.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a selectionof media; determining if the selected media was retrieved from a socialmedia source; and presenting a user interface with informationassociated with the media.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the informationassociated with the media is a social media posting associated with themedia on a social media site.

An aspect of the above method further comprises presenting the media,and wherein the user interface is an edge user interface presented to aside of the media.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a selectionof media; and presenting the media.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the media is presented ina display of a second device connected to the intelligent television.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a media subservice operable to: receive aselection to view media; retrieve available media from one or moresocial media sources; retrieve available media from one or more localsources; and execute a user interface application in communication withthe media subservice, the user interface application operable to presenttogether media from both one or more social media sources and one ormore local sources, wherein the media is one of a picture file, a videofile, or a music file.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe media subservice is further operable to: determine available mediafrom one or more social media sources; and determine available mediafrom one or more local sources.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes the userinterface application further operable to: provide, for at least oneitem of media, a visual indicia of the social media source, wherein thevisual indicia is a logo associated with a social media site; receive aselection of media; determine if the selected media was retrieved from asocial media source; if the selected media was retrieved from a socialmedia source, presenting a user interface with information associatedwith the media, wherein the information associated with the media is asocial media posting associated with the media on a social media site;and present the media.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface is an edge user interface presented to a side of themedia.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe media is presented in a display of a second device connected to theintelligent television.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine available media from one or more social mediasources; and determine available media from one or more local sources.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: provide, for at least one item of media, a visualindicia of the social media source, wherein the visual indicia is a logoassociated with a social media site; receive a selection of media;determine if the selected media was retrieved from a social mediasource; if the selected media was retrieved from a social media source,presenting a user interface with information associated with the media,wherein the information associated with the media is a social mediaposting associated with the media on a social media site; and presentthe media.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theuser interface is an edge user interface presented to a side of themedia.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein themedia is presented in a display of a second device connected to theintelligent television.

A method for providing social media on an intelligent television, themethod comprising: receiving one or more social media postings;receiving, by a processor of an intelligent television, a programmingchange input; determining the type of programming changing input; andbased on the determination, providing one of two or more user interfacesthat include a presentation of social media information.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the programming changeinput is a selection of one of a channel change, an electronicprogramming guide (EPG), a card view, or a media application.

An aspect of the above method further comprises providing a visualrepresentation of the one or more social media postings.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual representationis a pile view of the one or more social media postings.

An aspect of the above method further comprises, during the channelchange, providing the pile view in a channel representation.

An aspect of the above method further comprises, during the display ofthe EPG, providing the pile view in a channel field in the EPG.

An aspect of the above method further comprises, during the display ofthe card view, providing the pile view in a card.

An aspect of the above method further comprises, during the display ofthe media application, providing a representation of the one or moresocial media postings in a user interface associated with the mediaapplication.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user interface is atimeline view of one or more media available from one or more socialmedia sites.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining a state ofthe intelligent television; and determining a selection for socialmedia.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:receive one or more social media postings; execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to: receive a programming change input;determine the type of programming changing input; and based on thedetermination, provide one of two or more user interfaces that include apresentation of social media information.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe programming change input is a selection of one of a channel change,an electronic programming guide (EPG), a card view, or a mediaapplication.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to provide a visualrepresentation of the one or more social media postings, wherein thevisual representation is a pile view of the one or more social mediapostings.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to: during thechannel change, provide the pile view in a channel representation;during the display of the EPG, provide the pile view in a channel fieldin the EPG; during the display of the card view, provide the pile viewin a card; and during the display of the media application, provide arepresentation of the one or more social media postings in a userinterface associated with the media application, wherein the userinterface is a timeline view of one or more media available from one ormore social media sites.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to determine a stateof the intelligent television, and wherein the social media applicationis further operable to determine a selection for social media.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theprogramming change input is a selection of one of a channel change, anelectronic programming guide (EPG), a card view, or a media application.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theuser interface application is further operable to provide a visualrepresentation of the one or more social media postings, wherein thevisual representation is a pile view of the one or more social mediapostings.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: during the channel change, provide the pile view in achannel representation; during the display of the EPG, provide the pileview in a channel field in the EPG; during the display of the card view,provide the pile view in a card; and during the display of the mediaapplication, provide a representation of the one or more social mediapostings in a user interface associated with the media application,wherein the user interface is a timeline view of one or more mediaavailable from one or more social media sites.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine a state of the intelligent television; anddetermine a selection for social media.

A method for providing social media on an intelligent television, themethod comprising: receiving, by a processor of an intelligenttelevision, a selection to play media, wherein the media is videocontent presented in real-time; receiving a pause selection for themedia; pausing the media playback on the intelligent television whilethe media continues to be presented in real-time; during the pause,receiving one or more social media postings associated with the media;and storing the one or more social media postings in a time sequencecorrelated to the media presentation.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a selectionto view a timeline of the media; and providing the timeline userinterface with one or more social media tags, associated with the one ormore social media postings stored while the media was paused.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media tags arepresented in at a position in the timeline view that relates to a timeduring which the social media posting was received during the mediapresentation.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media tags areselectable.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a selectionof a social media tag; and expanding the social media tag to provide thesocial media posting associated with the social media tag.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the time sequence of thesocial media tags is referenced to a frame of the video content.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein two or more social mediatags are presented at a single time in the timeline view.

An aspect of the above method further comprises providing auser-selectable user interface device to show or hide the social mediatags.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein selecting theuser-selectable user interface device expands all social media tagsassociated with a frame to view all social media postings associatedwith the frame.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the one or more socialmedia postings are from one or more social media sites.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a user interface application operable to:receive a selection to play media, wherein the media is video contentpresented in real-time; receive a pause selection for the media; pausethe media playback on the intelligent television while the mediacontinues to be presented in real-time; execute a social mediaapplication in communication with the user interface application, thesocial media application operable to: during the pause, receive one ormore social media postings associated with the media; and store the oneor more social media postings in a time sequence correlated to the mediapresentation.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to: receive aselection to view a timeline of the media; and provide the timeline userinterface with one or more social media tags, associated with the one ormore social media postings stored while the media was paused, whereinthe social media tags are presented in at a position in the timelineview that relates to a time during which the social media posting wasreceived during the media presentation, and wherein the social mediatags are selectable.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to: receive aselection of a social media tag; and expand the social media tag toprovide the social media posting associated with the social media tag,wherein the time sequence of the social media tags is referenced to aframe of the video content, and wherein two or more social media tagsare presented at a single time in the timeline view.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to provide auser-selectable user interface device to show or hide the social mediatags, wherein selecting the user-selectable user interface deviceexpands all social media tags associated with a frame to view all socialmedia postings associated with the frame.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe one or more social media postings are from one or more social mediasites.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: instructions to receive a selection to view a timelineof the media; and instructions to provide the timeline user interfacewith one or more social media tags, associated with the one or moresocial media postings stored while the media was paused, wherein thesocial media tags are presented in at a position in the timeline viewthat relates to a time during which the social media posting wasreceived during the media presentation, and wherein the social mediatags are selectable.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: receive a selection of a social media tag; and expandthe social media tag to provide the social media posting associated withthe social media tag, wherein the time sequence of the social media tagsis referenced to a frame of the video content, and wherein two or moresocial media tags are presented at a single time in the timeline view.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theuser interface application is further operable to provide auser-selectable user interface device to show or hide the social mediatags, wherein selecting the user-selectable user interface deviceexpands all social media tags associated with a frame to view all socialmedia postings associated with the frame.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein the oneor more social media postings are from one or more social media sites.

A method for providing social media on an intelligent television, themethod comprising: receiving one or more social media postings;receiving a selection of a control device on a remote control associatedwith an intelligent television; receiving, by a processor of theintelligent television, the selection; determining whether the selectionis a first type or a second type; if the selection is a first type,providing a first user interface at the bottom of a display of theintelligent television, wherein the first user interface provides atleast one social media posting; and if the selection is a second type,providing a second user interface at the top of the display of theintelligent television, wherein the second user interface providesinformation associated with content being presented in the display.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the control device is ajoystick on a back of the remote control.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first type ofselection is a peek up selection caused by moving the joystick up.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the second type ofselection is a peek down selection caused by moving the joystick down.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first user interfaceis afooter in the display having two or more social media posting listedacross the footer in time sequence.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the second user interfaceis a banner in the display having at least one user-selectable controlto change the presentation of content in the display.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the banner includes anooh-ahh device to post automatically information about the content toone or more social media sites.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first user interfaceis hidden by moving the joystick down to a neutral position.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first user interfaceis hidden by moving the joystick up to a neutral position.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the joystick is movedleft or right to affect other user interface interactions.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable toreceive one or more social media postings; execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to: receive a selection, wherein theselection is of a control device on a remote control associated with theintelligent television; determine whether the selection is a first typeor a second type; if the selection is a first type, provide a first userinterface at the bottom of a display of the intelligent television,wherein the first user interface provides at least one social mediaposting; and if the selection is a second type, provide a second userinterface at the top of the display of the intelligent television,wherein the second user interface provides information associated withcontent being presented in the display.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe control device is a joystick on a back of the remote control,wherein the first type of selection is a peek up selection caused bymoving the joystick up, and wherein the second type of selection is apeek down selection caused by moving the joystick down.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe first user interface is a footer in the display having two or moresocial media posting listed across the footer in time sequence, andwherein the second user interface is a banner in the display having atleast one user-selectable control to change the presentation of contentin the display.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe banner includes an ooh-ahh device to post automatically informationabout the content to one or more social media sites.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe first user interface is hidden by moving the joystick down to aneutral position, and wherein the first user interface is hidden bymoving the joystick up to a neutral position.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thecontrol device is a joystick on a back of the remote control, whereinthe first type of selection is a peek up selection caused by moving thejoystick up, and wherein the second type of selection is a peek downselection caused by moving the joystick down.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thefirst user interface is a footer in the display having two or moresocial media posting listed across the footer in time sequence, andwherein the second user interface is a banner in the display having atleast one user-selectable control to change the presentation of contentin the display.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thebanner includes an ooh-ahh device to post automatically informationabout the content to one or more social media sites.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thefirst user interface is hidden by moving the joystick down to a neutralposition, and wherein the first user interface is hidden by moving thejoystick up to a neutral position.

A method for publishing social media by an intelligent television, themethod comprising: displaying content by the intelligent television;receiving a selection of a control device associated with theintelligent television; and based on the selection, automaticallypublishing information about the content to a social media site.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the control device is anooh-ahh button on a remote control.

An aspect of the above method includes the control device is auser-selectable ooh-ahh device displayed on a user interface by theintelligent television.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining a state ofthe content; and based on the determination, publishing the information.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a social media posting ismade with the information.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media postingis made to two or more social media sites.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media postingis one of a name of the content, a thumbnail view of the content, asound bite from the content, a rating of the content, or an opinionabout the content.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media postingis made by a predetermined process.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media postingto a first social media site is made with a first predetermined process.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the social media postingto a second social media site is made with a second predeterminedprocess.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a user interface application operable to:display content by the intelligent television; receive a selection of acontrol device associated with the intelligent television; and execute asocial media application in communication with the user interfaceapplication, the social media application operable to: based on theselection, automatically publish information about the content to asocial media site.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe control device is one of an ooh-ahh button on a remote control or auser-selectable ooh-ahh device displayed on a user interface by theintelligent television.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media application is further operable to: determine a stateof the content; and based on the determination, publish the information,wherein a social media posting is made with the information.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media posting is made to two or more social media sites,wherein the social media posting is made by a predetermined process,wherein the social media posting to a first social media site is madewith a first predetermined process, and wherein the social media postingto a second social media site is made with a second predeterminedprocess.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe social media posting is one of a name of the content, a thumbnailview of the content, a sound bite from the content, a rating of thecontent, or an opinion about the content.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thecontrol device is one of an ooh-ahh button on a remote control or auser-selectable ooh-ahh device displayed on a user interface by theintelligent television.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine a state of the content; and based on thedetermination, publish the information, wherein a social media postingis made with the information.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thesocial media posting is made to two or more social media sites, whereinthe social media posting is made by a predetermined process, wherein thesocial media posting to a first social media site is made with a firstpredetermined process, and wherein the social media posting to a secondsocial media site is made with a second predetermined process.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thesocial media posting is one of a name of the content, a thumbnail viewof the content, a sound bite from the content, a rating of the content,or an opinion about the content.

A method for providing social media on an intelligent television, themethod comprising: receiving one or more social media postings;receiving, by a processor of the intelligent television, a selection toprovide a social media application; determining a state associated witha social media posting; providing a user interface, for the social mediaapplication, having the social media posting displayed based on thestate.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the state is associatedwith metadata about the social media posting.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the state is a date atwhich the social media posting was published.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user interface is atimeline view having two or more social media postings displayed by thedate.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user interfaceincludes a demarcation, wherein the demarcation is associated with thedate.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a first social mediaposting to a left of the demarcation was published before a secondsocial media posting to a right of the demarcation.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the demarcation includesa visual indicia of the date.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a second state is anumber of views of the social media posting.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a first social mediaposting having a larger thumbnail representation has been viewed morethan a second social media posting with a smaller thumbnailrepresentation.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a user moves a focus to athumbnail representation of the social media posting and selects aremote control device or button to view the social media posting.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:receive one or more social media postings; determine a state associatedwith a social media posting; execute a user interface application incommunication with the social media application, the user interfaceapplication operable to: receive a selection to provide a social mediaapplication; and provide a user interface, for the social mediaapplication, having the social media posting displayed based on thestate.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe state is associated with metadata about the social media posting.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe state is a date at which the social media posting was published,wherein the user interface is a timeline view having two or more socialmedia postings displayed by the date, wherein the user interfaceincludes a demarcation, wherein the demarcation is associated with thedate, wherein a first social media posting to a left of the demarcationwas published before a second social media posting to a right of thedemarcation, and wherein the demarcation includes a visual indicia ofthe date.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes wherein asecond state is a number of views of the social media posting, andwherein a first social media posting having a larger thumbnailrepresentation has been viewed more than a second social media postingwith a smaller thumbnail representation.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes wherein auser moves a focus to a thumbnail representation of the social mediaposting and selects a remote control device or button to view the socialmedia posting.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thestate is associated with metadata about the social media posting.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thestate is a date at which the social media posting was published, whereinthe user interface is a timeline view having two or more social mediapostings displayed by the date, wherein the user interface includes ademarcation, wherein the demarcation is associated with the date,wherein a first social media posting to a left of the demarcation waspublished before a second social media posting to a right of thedemarcation, and wherein the demarcation includes a visual indicia ofthe date.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein asecond state is a number of views of the social media posting, andwherein a first social media posting having a larger thumbnailrepresentation has been viewed more than a second social media postingwith a smaller thumbnail representation.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein a usermoves a focus to a thumbnail representation of the social media postingand selects a remote control device or button to view the social mediaposting.

The methods and systems herein provide a more intuitive and visualappealing process for both presenting social media with televisioncontent and publishing social media associated with a user viewingtelevision content.

These and other advantages will be apparent from the disclosure.

The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-endedexpressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. Forexample, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at leastone of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B,or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation done without material human input when theprocess or operation is performed. However, a process or operation canbe automatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

A “blog” (a blend of the term web log) is a type of website or part of awebsite supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogsare usually maintained by an individual with regular entries ofcommentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphicsor video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

A “blogging service” is a blog-publishing service that allows private ormulti-user blogs with time-stamped entries.

The term “cable TV” refers to a system of distributing televisionprograms to subscribers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmittedthrough coaxial cables or light pulses through fiber-optic cables. Thiscontrasts with traditional broadcast television (terrestrial television)in which the television signal is transmitted over the air by radiowaves and received by a television antenna attached to the television.

The term “channel” or “television channel,” as used herein, can be aphysical or virtual channel over which a television station ortelevision network is distributed. A physical cannel in analogtelevision can be an amount of bandwidth, typically 6, 7, or 8 MHz, thatoccupies a predetermine channel frequency. A virtual channel is arepresentation, in cable or satellite television, of a data stream for aparticular television media provider (e.g., CDS, TNT, HBO, etc.).

The term “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refers to anytangible storage and/or transmission medium that participate inproviding instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium maytake many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media,volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, forexample, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includesdynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readablemedia include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, aCD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any otherphysical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memorychip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read. A digital file attachment toe-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives isconsidered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storagemedium. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, itis to be understood that the database may be any type of database, suchas relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storagemedium or distribution medium and prior art-recognized equivalents andsuccessor media, in which the software implementations of the presentdisclosure are stored.

The term “enhanced television” (ETV) refers to a collection ofspecifications developed under the OpenCable project of CableLabs (CableTelevision Laboratories, Inc.) that define an ETV Application consistingof resources (files) adhering to the Enhanced TV Binary InterchangeFormat (EBIF) content format as well as PNG images, JPEG images, and PFRdownloadable fonts. An ETV application is normally delivered through anMPEG transport stream and accompanies an MPEG program containing videoand audio elementary streams. An “ETV Application” is a collection ofresources (files) that include one or more EBIF resources that representviewable information in the form of pages. Two forms of a given ETVApplication may be distinguished: (1) an interchange form and (2) anexecution form. The interchange form of an ETV Application consists ofthe resources (files) that represent the compiled application prior toits actual execution by an ETV User Agent. The execution form of an ETVApplication consists of the stored, and possibly mutated forms of theseresources while being decoded, presented, and executed by an ETV UserAgent. An “ETV User Agent” is a software component that operates on aset-top box, a television, or any other computing environment capable ofreceiving, decoding, presenting, and processing an ETV Application. Thiscomponent usually provides, along with its host hardware environment,one or more mechanisms for an end-user to navigate and interact with themultimedia content represented by ETV Applications.

The term “high-definition television” (HDTV) provides a resolution thatis substantially higher than that of standard-definition television.HDTV may be transmitted in various formats, namely 1080p-1920×1080p:2,073,600 pixels (approximately 2.1 megapixels) per frame, 1080i (whichis typically either 1920×1080i: 1,036,800 pixels (approximately 1megapixel) per field or 2,073,600 pixels (approximately 2.1 megapixels)per frame or 1440×1080i:[1] 777,600 pixels (approximately 0.8megapixels) per field or 1,555,200 pixels (approximately 1.6 megapixels)per frame), or 720p-1280×720p: 921,600 pixels (approximately 0.9megapixels) per frame. As will be appreciated, “frame size” in pixels isdefined as number of horizontal pixels×number of vertical pixels, forexample 1280×720 or 1920×1080. Often the number of horizontal pixels isimplied from context and is omitted, as in the case of 720p and 1080p,“scanning system” is identified with the letter “p” for progressivescanning or “i” for interlaced scanning, and “frame rate” is identifiedas number of video frames per second. For interlaced systems analternative form of specifying number of fields per second is oftenused. For purposes of this disclosure, “high-definition television” isdeemed to include other high-definition analog or digital video formats,including ultra high definition television.

The term “internet television” (otherwise known as Internet TV, OnlineTelevision, or Online TV) is the digital distribution of televisioncontent via the Internet. It should not be confused with Webtelevision—short programs or videos created by a wide variety ofcompanies and individuals, or Internet protocol television (IPTV)—anemerging internet technology standard for use by televisionbroadcasters. Internet Television is a general term that covers thedelivery of television shows and other video content over the internetby video streaming technology, typically by major traditional televisionbroadcasters. It does not describe a technology used to deliver content(see Internet protocol television). Internet television has become verypopular through services such as RTÉ Player in Ireland; BBC iPlayer,4oD, ITV Player (also STV Player and UTV Player) and Demand Five in theUnited Kingdom; Hulu in the United States; Nederland 24 in theNetherlands; ABC iview and Australia Live TV in Australia; Tivibu inTurkey; and iWanTV! in the Philippines.

The term “internet protocol television” (IPTV) refers to a systemthrough which television services are delivered using the Internetprotocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet,instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellitesignal, and cable television formats. IPTV services may be classifiedinto three main groups, namely live television, with or withoutinteractivity related to the current TV show; time-shifted television:catch-up TV (replays a TV show that was broadcast hours or days ago),start-over TV (replays the current TV show from its beginning); andvideo on demand (VOD): browse a catalog of videos, not related to TVprogramming IPTV is distinguished from Internet television by itson-going standardization process (e.g., European TelecommunicationsStandards Institute) and preferential deployment scenarios insubscriber-based telecommunications networks with high-speed accesschannels into end-user premises via set-top boxes or othercustomer-premises equipment.

The term “silo,” as used herein, can be a logical representation of aninput, source, or application. An input can be a device or devices(e.g., DVD, VCR, etc.) electrically connected to the television througha port (e.g., HDMI, video/audio inputs, etc.) or through a network(e.g., LAN WAN, etc.). Rather than a device or devices, the input couldbe configured as an electrical or physical connection to one or moredevices. A source, particularly a content source, can be a data servicethat provides content (e.g., a media center, a file system, etc.). Anapplication can be a software service that provides a particular type offunction (e.g., Live TV, Video on Demand, User Applications, photographdisplay, etc.). The silo, as a logical representation, can have anassociated definition or property, such as a setting, feature, or othercharacteristic.

The term “panel,” as used herein, can mean a user interface displayed inat least a portion of the display. The panel may be interactive (e.g.,accepts user input) or informational (e.g., does not accept user input).A panel may be translucent whereby the panel obscures but does not maskthe underlying content being displayed in the display. Panels may beprovided in response to a user input from a button or remote controlinterface.

The term “screen,” as used herein, refers to a physical structure thatincludes one or more hardware components that provide the device withthe ability to render a user interface and/or receive user input. Ascreen can encompass any combination of gesture capture region, a touchsensitive display, and/or a configurable area. The device can have oneor more physical screens embedded in the hardware. However a screen mayalso include an external peripheral device that may be attached anddetached from the device. In embodiments, multiple external devices maybe attached to the device. For example, another screen may be includedwith a remote control unit that interfaces with the Intelligent TV.

The term “media” of “multimedia,” as used herein, refers to content thatmay assume one of a combination of different content forms. Multimediacan include one or more of, but is not limited to, text, audio, stillimages, animation, video, or interactivity content forms.

The term “Intelligent TV,” as used herein, refers to a televisionconfigured to provide one or more intuitive user interfaces andinteractions based on a unique application platform and architecture.The Intelligent TV utilizes processing resources associated with thetelevision to integrate Internet connectivity with parallel applicationfunctionality. This integration allows a user the ability to intuitivelyaccess various sources of media and content (e.g., Internet,over-the-top content, on-demand streaming media, over-the-air broadcastmedia, and/or other forms of information) via the Intelligent TV in aquick and efficient manner. The Intelligent TV can be a soft television.Although the Intelligent TV disclosed herein may comprise one or morecomponents of a “smart TV,” it is an aspect of the Intelligent TV toprovide expanded intuitive user interaction capability for navigatingand executing the various features of the television. A “smart TV,”sometimes referred to as a connected TV, or hybrid TV (not to beconfused with IPTV, Internet TV, or with Web TV), describes a trend ofintegration of the Internet and Web 2.0 features into television setsand set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence betweencomputers and these television sets/set-top boxes. The smart TV deviceshave a higher focus on online interactive media, Internet TV,over-the-top content, as well as on-demand streaming media, and lessfocus on traditional broadcast media than traditional television setsand set-top boxes. As can be appreciated, the Intelligent TV encompassesa broader range of technology than that of the smart TV defined above.

The term “television” is a telecommunication medium, device (or set) orset of associated devices, programming, and/or transmission fortransmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome(black-and-white) or colored, with or without accompanying sound.Different countries use one of the three main video standards for TVs,namely PAL, NTSC or SECAM. Television is most commonly used fordisplaying broadcast television signals. The broadcast television systemis typically disseminated via radio transmissions on designated channelsin the 54-890 MHz frequency band. A common television set comprisesmultiple internal electronic circuits, including those for receiving anddecoding broadcast signals. A visual display device which lacks a tuneris properly called a video monitor, rather than a television. Atelevision may be different from other monitors or displays based on thedistance maintained between the user and the television when the userwatches the media and based on the inclusion of a tuner or otherelectronic circuit to receive the broadcast television signal.

The term “Live TV,” as used herein, refers to a television productionbroadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present.

The term “standard-definition television” (SDTV) is a television systemthat uses a resolution that is not considered to be eitherhigh-definition television (HDTV 720p and 1080p) or enhanced-definitiontelevision (EDTV 480p). The two common SDTV signal types are 576i, with576 interlaced lines of resolution, derived from the European-developedPAL and SECAM systems; and 480i based on the American NationalTelevision System Committee NTSC system. In the US, digital SDTV isbroadcast in the same 4:3 aspect ratio as NTSC signals. However, inother parts of the world that used the PAL or SECAM analog standards,standard-definition television is now usually shown with a 16:9 aspectratio. Standards that support digital SDTV broadcast include DVB, ATSCand ISDB. Television signals are transmitted in digital form, and theirpixels have a rectangular shape, as opposed to square pixels that areused in modern computer monitors and modern implementations of HDTV. Thetable below summarizes pixel aspect ratios for various kinds of SDTVvideo signal. Note that the actual image (be it 4:3 or 16:9) is alwayscontained in the center 704 horizontal pixels of the digital frame,regardless of how many horizontal pixels (704 or 720) are used. In caseof digital video signal having 720 horizontal pixels, only the center704 pixels contain actual 4:3 or 16:9 image, and the 8 pixel widestripes from either side are called nominal analogue blanking and shouldbe discarded before displaying the image. Nominal analogue blankingshould not be confused with overscan, as overscan areas are part of theactual 4:3 or 16:9 image.

The term “video on demand (VOD),” as used herein, refers to systems andprocesses which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audiocontent on demand. VOD systems may stream content, to view the contentin real time, or download the content to a storage medium for viewing ata later time.

The term “satellite positioning system receiver” refers to a wirelessreceiver or transceiver to receive and/or send location signals fromand/or to a satellite positioning system, such as the Global PositioningSystem (“GPS”) (US), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo positioning system (EU),Compass navigation system (China), and Regional Navigational SatelliteSystem (India).

The term “display,” as used herein, refers to at least a portion of ascreen used to display the output of the television to a user. A displaymay be a single-screen display or a multi-screen display, referred to asa composite display. A composite display can encompass the touchsensitive display of one or more screens. A single physical screen caninclude multiple displays that are managed as separate logical displays.Thus, different content can be displayed on the separate displaysalthough part of the same physical screen.

The term “displayed image,” as used herein, refers to an image producedon the display. A typical displayed image is a television broadcast ormenu. The displayed image may occupy all or a portion of the display.

The term “display orientation,” as used herein, refers to the way inwhich a rectangular display is oriented by a user for viewing. The twomost common types of display orientation are portrait and landscape. Inlandscape mode, the display is oriented such that the width of thedisplay is greater than the height of the display (such as a 4:3 ratio,which is 4 units wide and 3 units tall, or a 16:9 ratio, which is 16units wide and 9 units tall). Stated differently, the longer dimensionof the display is oriented substantially horizontal in landscape modewhile the shorter dimension of the display is oriented substantiallyvertical. In the portrait mode, by contrast, the display is orientedsuch that the width of the display is less than the height of thedisplay. Stated differently, the shorter dimension of the display isoriented substantially horizontal in the portrait mode while the longerdimension of the display is oriented substantially vertical.

The term “module,” as used herein, refers to any known or laterdeveloped hardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzylogic, or combination of hardware and software that is capable ofperforming the functionality associated with that element.

The terms “determine,” “calculate” and “compute,” and variationsthereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any typeof methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “touch screen” or “touchscreen” refer to screen that canreceive user contact or other tactile input, such as a stylus. The touchscreen may sense user contact in a number of different ways, such as bya change in an electrical parameter (e.g., resistance or capacitance),acoustic wave variations, infrared radiation proximity detection, lightvariation detection, and the like. In a resistive touch screen, forexample, normally separated conductive and resistive metallic layers inthe screen pass an electrical current. When a user touches the screen,the two layers make contact in the contacted location, whereby a changein electrical field is noted and the coordinates of the contactedlocation calculated. In a capacitive touch screen, a capacitive layerstores electrical charge, which is discharged to the user upon contactwith the touch screen, causing a decrease in the charge of thecapacitive layer. The decrease is measured, and the contacted locationcoordinates determined. In a surface acoustic wave touch screen, anacoustic wave is transmitted through the screen, and the acoustic waveis disturbed by user contact. A receiving transducer detects the usercontact instance and determines the contacted location coordinates.

The term “web television” is original television content produced forbroadcast via the World Wide Web. Some major distributors of webtelevision are YouTube, Myspace, Newgrounds, Blip.tv, and Crackle.

The terms “instant message” and “instant messaging” refer to a form ofreal-time text communication between two or more people, typically basedon typed text.

The term “internet search engine” refers to a web search engine designedto search for information on the World Wide Web and FTP servers. Thesearch results are generally presented in a list of results oftenreferred to as SERPS, or “search engine results pages”. The informationmay consist of web pages, images, information and other types of files.Some search engines also mine data available in databases or opendirectories. Web search engines work by storing information about manyweb pages, which they retrieve from the html itself. These pages areretrieved by a Web crawler (sometimes also known as a spider)—anautomated Web browser which follows every link on the site. The contentsof each page are then analyzed to determine how it should be indexed(for example, words are extracted from the titles, headings, or specialfields called meta tags). Data about web pages are stored in an indexdatabase for use in later queries. Some search engines, such as Google™,store all or part of the source page (referred to as a cache) as well asinformation about the web pages, whereas others, such as AltaVista™,store every word of every page they find.

The terms “online community”, “e-community”, or “virtual community” meana group of people that primarily interact via a computer network, ratherthan face to face, for social, professional, educational or otherpurposes. The interaction can use a variety of media formats, includingwilds, blogs, chat rooms, Internet forums, instant messaging, email, andother forms of electronic media. Many media formats are used in socialsoftware separately or in combination, including text-based chatroomsand forums that use voice, video text or avatars.

The term “remote control” refers to a component of an electronicsdevice, most commonly a television set, DVD player and/or home theatersystem for operating the device wirelessly, typically from a shortline-of-sight distance. Remote control normally uses infrared and/orradio frequency (RF) signaling and can include WiFi, wireless USB,Bluetooth™ connectivity, motion sensor enabled capabilities and/or voicecontrol. A touchscreen remote control is a handheld remote controldevice which uses a touchscreen user interface to replace most of thehard, built-in physical buttons used in normal remote control devices.

The term “satellite TV” refers to television programming delivered bythe means of communications satellites and received by an outdoorantenna, usually a parabolic reflector generally referred to as asatellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellitereceiver either in the form of an external set-top box or a satellitetuner module built into a TV set.

The term “social network service” is a service provider that buildsonline communities of people, who share interests and/or activities, orwho are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.Most social network services are web-based and provide a variety of waysfor users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

The term “social network” refers to a web-based social network.

The term “gesture” refers to a user action that expresses an intendedidea, action, meaning, result, and/or outcome. The user action caninclude manipulating a device (e.g., opening or closing a device,changing a device orientation, moving a trackball or wheel, etc.),movement of a body part in relation to the device, movement of animplement or tool in relation to the device, audio inputs, etc. Agesture may be made on a device (such as on the screen) or with thedevice to interact with the device.

The term “gesture capture” refers to a sense or otherwise a detection ofan instance and/or type of user gesture. The gesture capture can occurin one or more areas of the screen. A gesture region can be on thedisplay, where it may be referred to as a touch sensitive display or offthe display where it may be referred to as a gesture capture area.

The term “electronic address” refers to any contactable address,including a telephone number, instant message handle, e-mail address,Universal Resource Locator (URL), Universal Resource Identifier (URI),Address of Record (AOR), electronic alias in a database, like addresses,and combinations thereof.

It shall be understood that the term “means,” as used herein, shall begiven its broadest possible interpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C.,Section 112(f). Accordingly, a claim incorporating the term “means”shall cover all structures, materials, or acts set forth herein, and allof the equivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materials or actsand the equivalents thereof shall include all those described in thesummary of the invention, brief description of the drawings, detaileddescription, abstract, and claims themselves.

The term “social media” can refer to the means of interactions amongpeople in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideasin virtual communities and networks. Embodiments of social media caninclude a group of Internet-based applications that allow the creationand exchange of content. Furthermore, social media may depend on mobileand web-based technologies to create highly interactive platformsthrough which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, andmodify user-generated content. Social media differentiates fromtraditional/industrial media in many aspects such as quality, reach,frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence.

The term “social media site” can refer to a social network or socialnetwork service.

The term “social media posting” can refer to an item of content or aprovider of content on a social media site.

The term “social media poster” can refer to an author of an item ofcontent or a provider of content on a social media site.

The term “social media pile” can refer to a user interface where eachsocial media posters is represented by a thumbnail or other visualindicia. The social media pile can include two or more thumbnails orvisual indicia formed into an arrangement that resembles a pile.

The preceding is a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide anunderstanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neitheran extensive nor exhaustive overview of the disclosure and its variousaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations. It is intended neither toidentify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate thescope of the disclosure but to present selected concepts of thedisclosure in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detaileddescription presented below. As will be appreciated, other aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure are possibleutilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features setforth above or described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A includes a first view of an embodiment of an environment of anintelligent television;

FIG. 1B includes a second view of an embodiment of an environment of anintelligent television;

FIG. 2A includes a first view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 2B includes a second view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 2C includes a third view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 2D includes a fourth view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the hardware of anintelligent television;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligent televisionsoftware and/or firmware;

FIG. 5 is a second block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligenttelevision software and/or firmware;

FIG. 6 is a third block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligenttelevision software and/or firmware;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an embodiment of a handheld remote control;

FIG. 8 is a side view of an embodiment of a remote control;

FIG. 9A is a bottom view of an embodiment of a remote control with ajoystick in a neutral position;

FIG. 9B is a bottom view of an embodiment of a remote control with thejoystick in a lower position;

FIG. 9C is a bottom view of an embodiment of a remote control with thejoystick in an upper position;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of another embodiment of a handheld remotecontrol;

FIG. 11A is a front view of an embodiment of an Intelligent TV screen;

FIG. 11B is a front view of an embodiment of an Intelligent TV screen;

FIG. 11C is a front view of an embodiment of an Intelligent TV screen;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a handheld remote controlof either FIG. 7 or 10;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a content data service;

FIG. 14 includes another view of an embodiment of an environment of anintelligent television;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a social mediaapplication;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data structure storingdata about an Intelligent TV user;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data structure storingsocial media data;

FIG. 18 is another plan view of an embodiment of a handheld remotecontrol;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 20A is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 20B is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 22 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 23 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 24 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 25 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 27 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 28A is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 28B is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 29 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 30 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 31 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 32 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 33 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 34 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 35 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 36 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 37 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 38 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 39 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 40 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 41 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information.

FIG. 42 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 43 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 44 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 45 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 46 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 47 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 48 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 49 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 50 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 51 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 52 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 53 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 54 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 55 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 56 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 57 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 58 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information;

FIG. 59 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 60 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 61 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 62 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 63 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 64 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 65 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 66 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 67 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information;

FIG. 68 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for presenting social media information; and

FIG. 69 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for presentingand/or publishing social media information.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a letter thatdistinguishes among the similar components. If only the first referencelabel is used in the specification, the description is applicable to anyone of the similar components having the same first reference labelirrespective of the second reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Presented herein are embodiments of a device. The device can be anetwork-enabled telecommunications device, such as a television, anelectronic visual display device, or other smart device. The device caninclude one or more screens, or sections of a screen, that areconfigured to receive and present information from a number of sources.Further, the device can receive user input in unique ways. The overalldesign and functionality of the device provides for an enhanced userexperience making the device more useful and more efficient.

Intelligent Television (TV) Environment:

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, an Intelligent TV, or device, 100 isshown. It is anticipated that the Intelligent TV 100 may be used forentertainment, business applications, social interaction, contentcreation and/or consumption, and to organize and control one or moreother devices that are in communication with the Intelligent TV 100. Ascan be appreciated, the Intelligent TV 100 can be used to enhance theuser interactive experience whether at home or at work.

In some embodiments, the Intelligent TV 100 may be configured to receiveand understand a variety of user and/or device inputs. For example, auser may interface with the Intelligent TV 100 via one or more physicalor electrical controls, such as buttons, switches, touch sensitivescreens/regions (e.g., capacitive touch, resistive touch, etc.), and/orother controls associated with the Intelligent TV 100. In some cases,the Intelligent TV 100 may include the one or more interactive controls.Additionally or alternatively, the one or more controls may beassociated with a remote control. The remote control may communicatewith the Intelligent TV 100 via wired and/or wireless signals. As can beappreciated, the remote control may operate via radio frequency (RF),infrared (IR), and/or a specific wireless communications protocol (e.g.,Bluetooth™, Wi-Fi, etc.). In some cases, the controls, whether physicalor electrical, may be configured (e.g., programmed) to suit a user'spreferences.

Additionally or alternatively, smart phones, tablets, computers,laptops, netbooks, and other smart devices may be used to control theIntelligent TV 100. For example, control of the Intelligent TV 100 maybe achieved via an application running on a smart device. Theapplication may be configured to present a user with various IntelligentTV 100 controls in an intuitive user interface (UI) on a screenassociated with the device 100. The screen may be a touch sensitive, ortouch screen, display. Selections input by a user via the UI may beconfigured to control the Intelligent TV 100 by the applicationaccessing one or more communication features associated with the smartdevice.

It is anticipated that the Intelligent TV 100 can receive input viavarious input devices including, but in no way limited to, video, audio,radio, light, tactile, and combinations thereof. Among other things,these input devices may be configured to allow the Intelligent TV 100 tosee, recognize, and react to user gestures. For instance, a user maytalk to the Intelligent TV 100 in a conversational manner. TheIntelligent TV 100 may hear and understand voice commands in a mannersimilar to a smart device's intelligent personal assistant andvoice-controlled navigator application (e.g., Apple's Siri, Android'sSkyvi, Robin, his, and other applications).

The Intelligent TV 100 may also be a communications device which canestablish network connections 104 through many alternate means,including wired 108 or wireless 112 means, over cellular networks 116 toconnect via cellular base antenna 142 to telephone networks operated bytelephone company 146, and by using a telephone line 120 to connect totelephone networks operated by telephone company 146. These connections104 enable the Intelligent TV 100 to access one or more communicationnetworks 132. The communication networks may comprise any type of knowncommunication medium or collection of communication media and may useany type of protocols to transport messages or signals betweenendpoints. The communication networks may include wired and/or wirelesscommunication technologies. The Internet is an example of acommunication network 132 that constitutes an Internet Protocol (IP)network consisting of many computers, computing networks, and othercommunication devices located all over the world, which are connectedthrough many telephone systems and other means.

Other examples of the communication network 132 include, withoutlimitation, a standard Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), an IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN), the Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), acellular network, and any other type of packet-switched orcircuit-switched network known in the art. In addition, it can beappreciated that the communication network 132 need not be limited toany one network type, and instead may be comprised of a number ofdifferent networks and/or network types.

In some embodiments, the Intelligent TV 100 may be equipped withmultiple communication means. The multiple communication means may allowthe Intelligent TV 100 to communicate across Local Area Networks (LANs)124, wireless local area networks (WLANs) 128, and other networks 132.The networks 132 may be connected in a redundant manner to ensurenetwork access. In other words, if one connection is interrupted, theIntelligent TV 100 can use an alternate communications path toreestablish and/or maintain the network connection 104. Among otherthings, the Intelligent TV 100 may use these network connections 104 tosend and receive information, interact with an electronic program guide(EPG) 136, receive software updates 140, contact customer service 144(e.g., to receive help or service, etc.), and/or access remotely storeddigital media libraries 148. In addition, these connections can allowthe Intelligent TV 100 to make phone calls, send and/or receive emailmessages, send and/or receive text messages (such as email and instantmessages), surf the Internet using an internet search engine, post blogsby a blogging service, and connect/interact with social media sitesand/or an online community (e.g., Facebook™ Twitter™, LinkedIn™,Pinterest™, Google+™, MySpace™, and the like) maintained by a socialnetwork service. In combination with other components of the IntelligentTV 100 described in more detail below, these network connections 104also enable the Intelligent TV 100 to conduct video teleconferences,electronic meetings, and other communications. The intelligent TV 100may capture and store images and sound, using associated cameras,microphones, and other sensors. Additionally or alternatively, theIntelligent TV 100 may create and save screen shots of media, images,and data displayed on a screen associated with the Intelligent TV 100.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the Intelligent TV 100 can interact withother electronic devices 168 by either by the wired 108 and/or wireless112 connections. As described herein, components of the Intelligent TV100 allow the device 100 to be connected to devices 168 including, butnot limited to, DVD players 168 a, BluRay players 168 b, portabledigital media devices 168 c, smart phones 168 d, tablet devices 168 e,personal computers 168 f, external cable boxes 168 g, keyboards 168 h,pointing devices 168 i, printers 168 j, game controllers and/or gamepads 168 k, satellite dishes 1681, external display devices 168 m, andother universal serial bus (USB), local area network (LAN), Bluetooth™,or high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) compliant devices, and/orwireless devices. When connected to an external cable box 168 g orsatellite dish 168 l, the Intelligent TV 100 can access additional mediacontent. Also, as further described below, the Intelligent TV 100 iscapable of receiving digital and/or analog signals broadcast by TVstations. The Intelligent TV 100 can be configured as one or more of astandard-definition television, enhanced television, and high-definitiontelevision. It may operate as one or more of cable, Internet, InternetProtocol, satellite, web, and/or smart television. The Intelligent TV100 may also be used to control the operation of, and may interfacewith, other smart components such as security systems 172, door/gatecontrollers 176, remote video cameras 180, lighting systems 184,thermostats 188, refrigerators 192, and other appliances.

Intelligent TV:

FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate components of the Intelligent TV 100. In general,as shown by FIG. 2A, the Intelligent TV 100 can be supported by aremovable base or stand 204 that is attached to a frame 208. The frame208 surrounds edges of a display screen 212, leaving a front surface ofthe display screen 212 uncovered. The display screen 212 may comprise aLiquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, a plasma screen, Light EmittingDiode (LED) screen, or other screen types. In embodiments, the entirefront surface of the screen 212 may be touch sensitive and capable ofreceiving input by the user touching the front surface of the screen212.

The intelligent TV 100 may include integrated speakers 216 and at leastone microphone 220. A first area of the frame 208 may comprise ahorizontal gesture capture region 224 and second areas comprise verticalgesture capture regions 228. The gesture capture regions 224, 228 maycomprise areas or regions that are capable of receiving input byrecognizing gestures made by the user, and in some examples, without theneed for the user to actually touch the screen 212 surface of theIntelligent TV 100. However, the gesture capture regions 224, 228 maynot include pixels that can perform a display function or capability.

One or more image capture devices 232, such as a camera, can be includedfor capturing still and/or video images. The image capture device 232can include or be associated with additional elements, such as a flashor other light source 236 and a range finding device 240 to assistfocusing of the image capture device. In addition, the microphone 220,gesture capture regions 224, 228, image capture devices 232, and therange finding device 240 may be used by the Intelligent TV 100 torecognize individual users. Additionally or alternatively, theIntelligent TV 100 may learn and remember preferences associated withthe individual users. In some embodiments, the learning and remembering(i.e., identifying and recalling stored information) may be associatedwith the recognition of a user.

An IR transmitter and receiver 244 may also be provided to connect theIntelligent TV 100 with a remote control device (not shown) or other IRdevices. Additionally or alternatively, the remote control device maytransmit wireless signals via RF, light, and/or a means other than IR.Also shown in FIG. 2A is an audio jack 248, which may be hidden behind apanel that is hinged or removable. The audio jack 248 accommodates atip, ring, sleeve (TRS) connector, for example, to allow the user toutilize headphones, a headset, or other external audio equipment.

The Intelligent TV 100 can also include a number of buttons 252. Forexample, FIG. 2A illustrates the buttons 252 on the top of theIntelligent TV 100, although the buttons could be placed at otherlocations. As shown, the Intelligent TV 100 includes six buttons 252a-f, which can be configured for specific inputs. For example, the firstbutton 252 a may be configured as an on/off button used to controloverall system power to the Intelligent TV 100. The buttons 252 may beconfigured to, in combination or alone, control a number of aspects ofthe Intelligent TV 100. Some non-limiting examples include, but are notlimited to, overall system volume, brightness, the image capture device,the microphone, and initiation/termination of a video conference.Instead of separate buttons, two of the buttons may be combined into arocker button. This rocker button arrangement may be useful insituations where the buttons are configured to control features such asvolume or brightness. In some embodiments, one or more of the buttons252 are capable of supporting different user commands. By way ofexample, a normal press has a duration commonly of less than about 1second and resembles a quick input. A medium press has a durationcommonly of 1 second or more but less than about 12 seconds. A longpress has a duration commonly of about 12 seconds or more. The functionof the buttons is normally specific to the application that is active onthe Intelligent TV 100. In the video conference application for instanceand depending on the particular button, a normal, medium, or long presscan mean end the video conference, increase or decrease the volume,increase a rate speed associated with a response to an input, and togglemicrophone mute. Depending on the particular button, a normal, medium,or long press can also control the image capture device 232 to increasezoom, decrease zoom, take a photograph, or record video.

In support of communications functions or capabilities, the IntelligentTV 100 can include one or more shared or dedicated antennae 256 andwired broadband connections 260 as shown in FIG. 2B. The antennae 256also enable the Intelligent TV 100 to receive digital and/or analogbroadcast TV channels. The wired broadband connections 260 are, forexample, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), an optical line, an Ethernetport, an IEEE 1394 interface, or other interfaces. The Intelligent TV100 also has a telephone line jack 262 to further provide communicationscapability.

In addition to the removable base 204, the Intelligent TV 100 mayinclude hardware and mounting points 264 on a rear surface to facilitatemounting the Intelligent TV 100 to a surface, such as a wall. In oneexample, the Intelligent TV 100 may incorporate at least one VideoEquipment Standards Association (VESA) mounting interface for attachingthe device 100 to the surface.

As shown in FIG. 2C, the Intelligent TV 100 may include dockinginterfaces or ports 268. The docking ports 268 may include proprietaryor universal ports to support the interconnection of the Intelligent TV100 to other devices or components, which may or may not includeadditional or different capabilities from those integral to theIntelligent TV 100. In addition to supporting an exchange ofcommunication signals between the Intelligent TV 100 and a connecteddevice or component, the docking ports 268 can support the supply ofpower to the connected device or component. The docking ports 268 canalso comprise an intelligent element that comprises a docking module forcontrolling communications or other interactions between the IntelligentTV 100 and the connected device or component.

The Intelligent TV 100 also includes a number of card slots 272 andnetwork or peripheral interface ports 276. The card slots 272 mayaccommodate different types of cards including subscriber identitymodules (SIM), secure digital (SD) cards, MiniSD cards, flash memorycards, and other cards. Ports 276 in embodiments may includeinput/output (I/O) ports, such as universal serial bus (USB) ports,parallel ports, game ports, and high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI) connectors.

An audio/video (A/V) I/O module 280 can be included to provide audio toan interconnected speaker or other device, and to receive audio inputfrom a connected microphone or other device. As an example, the audioinput/output interface 280 may comprise an associated amplifier andanalog-to-digital converter.

Hardware Features:

FIG. 3 illustrates components of a Intelligent TV 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. In general, the Intelligent TV100 includes a primary screen 304. Screen 304 can be a touch sensitivescreen and can include different operative areas.

For example, a first operative area, within the screen 304, may comprisea display 310. In some embodiments, the display 310 may be touchsensitive. In general, the display 310 may comprise a full color,display.

A second area within the screen 304 may comprise a gesture captureregion 320. The gesture capture region 320 may comprise an area orregion that is outside of the display 310 area, and that is capable ofreceiving input, for example in the form of gestures provided by a user.However, the gesture capture region 320 does not include pixels that canperform a display function or capability.

A third region of the screen 304 may comprise a configurable area 312.The configurable area 312 is capable of receiving input and has displayor limited display capabilities. In embodiments, the configurable area312 may present different input options to the user. For example, theconfigurable area 312 may display buttons or other relatable items.Moreover, the identity of displayed buttons, or whether any buttons aredisplayed at all within the configurable area 312 of a screen 304, maybe determined from the context in which the Intelligent TV 100 is usedand/or operated.

In an exemplary touch sensitive screen 304 embodiment, the touchsensitive screen 304 comprises a liquid crystal display extending acrossat least those regions of the touch sensitive screen 304 that arecapable of providing visual output to a user, and a capacitive inputmatrix over those regions of the touch sensitive screen 304 that arecapable of receiving input from the user.

One or more display controllers 316 may be provided for controlling theoperation of the screen 304. The display controller 316 may control theoperation of the touch sensitive screen 304, including input (touchsensing) and output (display) functions. The display controller 316 mayalso control the operation of the screen 304 and may interface withother inputs, such as infrared and/or radio input signals (e.g.,door/gate controllers, alarm system components, etc.). In accordancewith still other embodiments, the functions of a display controller 316may be incorporated into other components, such as a processor 364.

The processor 364 may comprise a general purpose programmable processoror controller for executing application programming or instructions. Inaccordance with at least some embodiments, the processor 364 may includemultiple processor cores, and/or implement multiple virtual processors.In accordance with still other embodiments, the processor 364 mayinclude multiple physical processors. As a particular example, theprocessor 364 may comprise a specially configured application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) or other integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a controller, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit, aprogrammable logic device or gate array, a special purpose computer, orthe like. The processor 364 generally functions to run programming codeor instructions implementing various functions of the Intelligent TV100.

In support of connectivity functions or capabilities, the Intelligent TV100 can include a module for encoding/decoding and/orcompression/decompression 366 for receiving and managing digitaltelevision information. Encoding/decoding compression/decompressionmodule 366 enables decompression and/or decoding of analog and/ordigital information dispatched by a public television chain or in aprivate television network and received across antenna 324, I/O module348, wireless connectivity module 328, and/or other wirelesscommunications module 332. The television information may be sent toscreen 304 and/or attached speakers receiving analog or digitalreception signals. Any encoding/decoding and compression/decompressionis performable on the basis of various formats (e.g., audio, video, anddata). Encrypting module 368 is in communication with encoding/decodingcompression/decompression module 366 and enables the confidentiality ofall the data received or transmitted by the user or supplier.

In support of communications functions or capabilities, the IntelligentTV 100 can include a wireless connectivity module 328. As examples, thewireless connectivity module 328 can comprise a GSM, CDMA, FDMA and/oranalog cellular telephony transceiver capable of supporting voice,multimedia and/or data transfers over a cellular network. Alternativelyor in addition, the Intelligent TV 100 can include an additional orother wireless communications module 332. As examples, the otherwireless communications module 332 can comprise a Wi-Fi, Blutooth™,WiMax, infrared, or other wireless communications link. The wirelessconnectivity module 328 and the other wireless communications module 332can each be associated with a shared or a dedicated antenna 324 and ashared or dedicated I/O module 348.

An input/output module 348 and associated ports may be included tosupport communications over wired networks or links, for example withother communication devices, server devices, and/or peripheral devices.Examples of an input/output module 348 include an Ethernet port, aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) port, Thunderbolt™ or Light Peak interface,Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 port, orother interface.

An audio input/output interface/device(s) 344 can be included to provideanalog audio to an interconnected speaker or other device, and toreceive analog audio input from a connected microphone or other device.As an example, the audio input/output interface/device(s) 344 maycomprise an associated amplifier and analog-to-digital converter.Alternatively or in addition, the Intelligent TV 100 can include anintegrated audio input/output device 356 and/or an audio jack forinterconnecting an external speaker or microphone. For example, anintegrated speaker and an integrated microphone can be provided, tosupport near talk or speaker phone operations.

A port interface 352 may be included. The port interface 352 may includeproprietary or universal ports to support the interconnection of thedevice 100 to other devices or components, such as a dock, which may ormay not include additional or different capabilities from those integralto the device 100. In addition to supporting an exchange ofcommunication signals between the device 100 and another device orcomponent, the docking port 136 and/or port interface 352 can supportthe supply of power to or from the device 100. The port interface 352also comprises an intelligent element that comprises a docking modulefor controlling communications or other interactions between theIntelligent TV 100 and a connected device or component. The dockingmodule may interface with software applications that allow for theremote control of other devices or components (e.g., media centers,media players, and computer systems).

An Intelligent TV 100 may also include memory 308 for use in connectionwith the execution of application programming or instructions by theprocessor 364, and for the temporary or long term storage of programinstructions and/or data. As examples, the memory 308 may comprise RAM,DRAM, SDRAM, or other solid state memory. Alternatively or in addition,data storage 314 may be provided. Like the memory 308, the data storage314 may comprise a solid state memory device or devices. Alternativelyor in addition, the data storage 314 may comprise a hard disk drive orother random access memory.

Hardware buttons 358 can be included for example for use in connectionwith certain control operations. One or more image captureinterfaces/devices 340, such as a camera, can be included for capturingstill and/or video images. Alternatively or in addition, an imagecapture interface/device 340 can include a scanner, code reader, ormotion sensor. An image capture interface/device 340 can include or beassociated with additional elements, such as a flash or other lightsource. The image capture interfaces/devices 340 may interface with auser ID module 350 that assists in identifying users of the IntelligentTV 100.

The Intelligent TV 100 can also include a global positioning system(GPS) receiver 336. In accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention, the GPS receiver 336 may further comprise a GPS module thatis capable of providing absolute location information to othercomponents of the Intelligent TV 100. As will be appreciated, othersatellite-positioning system receivers can be used in lieu of or inaddition to GPS.

Power can be supplied to the components of the Intelligent TV 100 from apower source and/or power control module 360. The power control module360 can, for example, include a battery, an AC-to-DC converter, powercontrol logic, and/or ports for interconnecting the Intelligent TV 100to an external source of power.

Communication between components of the Intelligent TV 100 is providedby bus 322. Bus 322 may comprise one or more physical buses for control,addressing, and/or data transmission. Bus 322 may be parallel, serial, ahybrid thereof, or other technology.

Firmware and Software:

An embodiment of the software system components and modules 400 is shownin FIG. 4. The software system 400 may comprise one or more layersincluding, but not limited to, an operating system kernel 404, one ormore libraries 408, an application framework 412, and one or moreapplications 416. The one or more layers 404-416 can communicate witheach other to perform functions for the Intelligent TV 100.

An operating system (OS) kernel 404 contains the primary functions thatallow the software to interact with hardware associated with theIntelligent TV 100. Kernel 404 can include a collection of software thatmanages the computer hardware resources and provides services for othercomputer programs or software code. The operating system kernel 404 isthe main component of the operating system and acts as an intermediarybetween the applications and data processing done with the hardwarecomponents. Part of the operating system kernel 404 can include one ormore device drivers 420. A device driver 420 can be any code within theoperating system that helps operate or control a device or hardwareattached to or associated with the Intelligent TV. The driver 420 caninclude code for operating video, audio, and/or other multimediacomponents of the Intelligent TV 100. Examples of drivers includedisplay, camera, flash, binder (IPC), keypad, WiFi, and audio drivers.

Library 408 can contain code or other components that may be accessedand implemented during the operation of the software system 400. Thelibrary 408 may contain one or more of, but is not limited to, anoperating system runtime library 424, a TV services hardware abstractionlayer (HAL) library 428, and/or a data service library 432. The OSruntime library 424 may contain the code required by the operatingsystem kernel 404 or other operating system functions to be executedduring the runtime of the software system 400. The library can includethe code that is initiated during the running of the software system400.

The TV services hardware abstraction layer library 428 can include coderequired by TV services either executed in the application framework 412or an application 416. The TV services HAL library 428 is specific tothe Intelligent TV 100 operations that control different functions ofthe Intelligent TV. The TV service HAL library 428 can also be formedfrom other types of application languages or embodiments of differenttypes of code or formats for code beyond the hardware abstraction layer.

The data services library 432 can include the one or more components orcodes to implement components for the data services function. The dataservices function can be implemented in the application framework 412and/or applications layer 416. An embodiment of a function of the dataservices and the type of components that may be included is shown inFIG. 6.

The application framework 412 can include a general abstraction forproviding functionality that can be selected by one or more applications416 to provide specific application functions or software for thoseapplications. Thus, the framework 412 can include one or more differentservices, or other applications, that can be accessed by theapplications 416 to provide general functions across two or moreapplications. Such functions include, for example, management of one ormore of windows or panels, surfaces, activities, content, and resources,The application framework 412 can include one or more, but is notlimited to, TV services 434, TV services framework 440, TV resources444, and user interface components 448.

The TV services framework 440 can provide an additional abstraction fordifferent TV services. TV services framework 440 allows for the generalaccess and function of services that are associated with the TVfunctionality. The TV services 436 are general services provided withinthe TV services framework 440 that can be accessed by applications inthe applications layer 416. The TV resources 444 provide code foraccessing TV resources 444 including any type of storage, video, audio,or other functionality provided with the Intelligent TV 100. The TVresources 444, TV services 436, and TV services framework 440 providefor the different implementations of TV functionality that may occurwith the Intelligent TV 100.

One or more user interface components 448 can provide general componentsfor display of the Intelligent TV 100. The user interface components 448might be general components that may be accessed by differentapplications provided in the application framework 412. The userinterface components 448 may be accessed to provide for panels and silosas described in conjunction with FIG. 5.

The applications layer 416 can both contain and execute applicationsassociated with the Intelligent TV 100. Applications layer 416 mayinclude one or more of, but is not limited to, a live TV application452, a video on demand application 456, a media center application 460,an application center application 464, and a user interface application468. The live TV application 452 can provide live TV over differentsignal sources. For example, the live TV application 452 can provide TVfrom input from cable television, over air broadcasts, from satelliteservices, or other types of live TV services. Live TV application 452may then present the multimedia presentation or video and audiopresentation of the live television signal over the display of theIntelligent TV 100.

The video on demand application 456 can provide for video from differentstorage sources. Unlike Live TV application 452, video on demand 456provides for display of videos that are accessed from some memorysource. The sources of the video on demand can be associated with usersor with the Intelligent TV or some other type of service. For example,the video on demand 456 may be provided from an iTunes library stored ina cloud, from a local disc storage that contains stored video programs,or from some other source.

The media center application 460 can provide applications for differenttypes of media presentation. For example, the media center 460 canprovide for displaying pictures or audio that is different from, butstill accessible by the user and different from live TV or video ondemand. The media center 460 allows for the access of different sourcesto obtain the media in the display of such media on the Intelligent TV100.

The application center 464 allows for the provision, storage and use ofapplications. An application can be a game, a productivity application,or some other application generally associated with computer systems orother devices, but may be operated within the Intelligent TV. Anapplication center 464 may obtain these applications from differentsources, store them locally and then execute those types of applicationsfor the user on the Intelligent TV 100.

User interface application 468 provides for the specific user interfacesassociated with the Intelligent TV 100. These user interfaces caninclude the silos and panels that are described in FIG. 5. An embodimentof the user interface software 500 is shown in FIG. 5. Here theapplication framework 412 contains one or more code components whichhelp control the user interface events while one or more applications inthe applications layer 416 affects the user interface use for theIntelligent TV 100. The application framework 412 can include a silotransition controller 504 and/or an input event dispatcher 508. Theremay be more or fewer code components in the application framework 412than those shown in FIG. 5. The silo transition controller 504 containsthe code and language that manages the transitions between one or moresilos. A silo can be a vertical user interface feature on theIntelligent TV that contains information for user. The transitioncontroller 504 can manage the changes between two silos when an eventoccurs in the user interface. The input event dispatcher 508 can receiveuser interface events that may be received from the operating system andprovided to the input event dispatcher 508. These events can includeselections of buttons on a remote control or on the TV or other types ofuser interface inputs. The input event dispatcher 508 may then sendthese events to a silo manager 532 or panel manager 536 depending on thetype of the event. The silo transition controller 504 can interface withthe silo manager 532 to affect changes in the silos.

The applications layer 416 can include a user interface application 468and/or a silo application 512. The applications layer 416 can includemore or fewer user interface applications as necessary to control theuser interface of the Intelligent TV 100 than those shown in FIG. 5. Theuser interface application 468 can include a silo manager 532, a panelmanager 536, and one or more types of panels 516-528. The silo manager532 manages the display and/or features of silos. The silo manager 532can receive or send information from the silo transition controller 504or the input event dispatcher 508 to change the silos displayed and/orto determine types of input received in the silos.

A panel manager 536 is operable to display panels in the user interfaceto manage transitions between those panels or to affect user interfaceinputs received in the panel. The panel manager 536 may thus be incommunication with different user interface panels such as a globalpanel 516, a volume panel 520, a settings panel 524, and/or anotification panel 528. The panel manager 536 can display these types ofpanels depending on the inputs received from the input event dispatcher508. The global panel 516 may include information that is associatedwith the home screen or top level hierarchal information for the user. Avolume panel 520 may display information about an audio volume controlor other settings for volume. A settings panel 524 can includeinformation displayed about the settings of the audio or video, or othersettable characteristics of the Intelligent TV 100. A notification panel528 can provide information about notifications to a user. Thesenotifications can be associated with information, such as, video ondemand displays, favorites, currently provided programs, or otherinformation. Notifications can be associated with the media or with sometype of setting, or operation or the Intelligent TV 100. The panelmanager 536 may be in communication with the panel controller 552 of thesilo application 512.

The panel controller 552 may operate to control portions of the panelsof the types described previously. Thus, the panel controller 552 may bein communication with a top panel application 540, an application panel544, and/or bottom panel 548. These types of panels may be differentlydisplayed in the user interface of the Intelligent TV 100. The panelcontrol thus may be based on the configuration of the system or the typeof display being used currently, put the types of panels 516-528 into acertain display orientation governed by the top panel application 540,application panel 544, or bottom panel application 548.

An embodiment of the data service 432 and the operation of the datamanagement is shown in FIG. 6. The data management 600 can include oneor more code components that are associated with different types ofdata. For example, there may be code components within the data service432 that execute and are associated with video on demand, the electronicprogram guide, or media data. There may be more or fewer types of dataservice 432 components than those shown in FIG. 6. Each of the differenttypes of data may include a data model 604-612. The data models governwhat information is to be stored and how that information will be storedby the data service. Thus, the data model can govern regardless of wherethe data comes from, how the data will be received or managed within theIntelligent TV system. Thus, the data model 604, 608, and/or 612, canprovide a translation ability or affect the ability to translate datafrom one form to another to be used by the Intelligent TV 100.

The different types of data services (video on demand, electronicprogramming guide, media) each have a data subservice 620, 624, and/or628 that is in communication with one or more internal and/or externalcontent providers 616. The data subservices 620, 624, and 628 thatcommunicate with the content providers 616 to obtain data that may thenbe stored in databases 632, 636, and 640. The subservices 620, 624, and628 may communicate with and initiate or enable one or more sourceplug-ins 644, 648, and 652 to communicate with the content provider. Foreach content provider 616, there may be a different source plug-in 644,648, and 652. Thus, if there is more than one source of content for thedata, each of the data subservices 620, 624, and 628 may determine andthen enable or initiate a different source plug-in 644, 648, and/or 652.The content providers 616 may also provide information to a resourcearbitrator 656 and/or thumbnail cache manager 660. The resourcearbitrator 656 may operate to communicate with resources 664 that areexternal to the data service 432. Thus, the resource arbitrator 656 maycommunicate with cloud based storage, network based storage, or othertypes of external storage in the resources 664. This information maythen be provided through the content provider module 616 to the datasubservices 620, 624, 628. Likewise, a thumbnail cache manager 660 mayobtain thumbnail information from one of the data subservices 620, 624,628 and store that information in the thumbnails database 668. Further,the thumbnail cache manager 660 may extract or retrieve that informationfrom the thumbnails database 668 to provide to one of the datasubservices 620, 624, 628.

An exemplary content aggregation architecture 1300 is shown in FIG. 13.The architecture can include a user interface layer 1304 and a contentaggregation layer 1308. The user interface layer 1304 may include a TVapplication 1312, media player 1316, and application(s) 1320. The TVapplication 1312 enables the viewer to view channels received via anappropriate transmission medium, such as cable, satellite, and/or theInternet. The media player 1316 views other types of media received viaan appropriate transmission medium, such as the Internet. Theapplication(s) 1320 include other TV-related (pre-installed)applications, such as content viewing, content searching, deviceviewing, and setup algorithms, and coordinates with the media player1316 to provide information to the viewer.

The content source layer 1308 includes, as data services, a contentsource service 1328, a content aggregation service 1332 and a contentpresentation service 1336. The content source service 1328 can managecontent source investigators, including local and/or network filesystem(s), digital network device manager (which discovers handheld andnon-handheld devices (e.g., digital media servers, players, renderers,controllers, printers, uploaders, downloaders, network connectivityfunctions, and interoperability units) by known techniques, such as amulticast universal plug and play or UPnP discovery techniques, and, foreach discovered device, retrieves, parses, and encodes devicedescriptors, notifies the content source service of the newly discovereddevice, and provides information, such as an index, on previouslydiscovered devices), Internet Protocol Television or IPTV, digitaltelevision or DTV (including high definition and enhanced TV), thirdparty services (such as those referenced above), and applications (suchas Android applications).

Content source investigators can track content sources and are typicallyconfigured as binaries. The content source service 1328 starts contentsource investigators and maintains open and persistent channels forcommunications. The communications include query or command and responsepairs. The content aggregation service 1332 can manage content metadatafetchers, such as for video, audio, and/or picture metadata. The contentpresentation service 1336 may provide interfaces to the content index1340, such as an Android application interface and digital deviceinterfaces.

The content source service 1328 can send and receive communications 1344to and from the content aggregation service 1332. The communications caninclude notifications regarding new and removed digital devices and/orcontent and search queries and results. The content aggregation service1332 can send and receive communications 1348 to and from the contentpresentation service 1336 including device and/or content lookupnotifications, content-of-interest advisories and notifications, andsearch queries and results.

When a search is performed, particularly when the user is searching orbrowsing content, a user request may be received from the user interfacelayer 1300, by the content presentation service 1336, which responsivelyopens a socket and sends the request to the content aggregation service1332. The content aggregation service 1332 first returns results fromthe local database 1340. The local database 1340 includes an index ordata model and indexed metadata. The content source service 1328 furtherissues search and browse requests for all content source investigatorsand other data management systems. The results are forwarded to thecontent aggregation service 1332, which updates the database 1340 toreflect the further search results and provides the original contentaggregation database search results and the data updates, reflecting theadditional content source service search results, over the previouslyopened socket to the content presentation service 1336. The contentpresentation service 1336 then provides the results to one or morecomponents in the user interface layer 1300 for presentation to theviewer. When the search session is over (e.g., the search session isterminated by the user or by an action associated with user), the userinterface layer 1300 disconnects the socket. As shown, media can beprovided directly by the content aggregation service 1332 to the mediaplayer 1316 for presentation to the user.

Remote Control:

A handheld remote control can be provided to enable user interactionwith the Intelligent TV 100. An exemplary handheld remote control isshown in FIGS. 7-9. The remote control 700 can include one or more of,but is not limited to, top, side and bottom housings 704, 708, and 712,an (on/off) power button 716, an input source button 720 (to selectinput source such as Live TV, video on demand, media center, applicationcenter, high definition multimedia interface or HDMI, component or COMP,audio/Video or A/V, digital or analog television or DTV/ATV, and videographics array (VGA)), a (volume) mute button 724, a Live TV button 728(to activate or select the Live TV silo), a video on demand (VOD) button732 (to activate or select the video on demand silo), a media centerbutton 736 (to activate or select the media center application or silo,which access various types of media such as music, TV programming,videos, and the like), an application center button 740 (to activate orselect the application center application or silo), a global panelbutton 744, an application panel button 748, a back button 752 (toselect a prior user operation or Intelligent TV state and/or navigate upa hierarchy of any displayed image or object(s) (in which case the backbutton 752 does not navigate within application panels or acrossapplication silos), a play button 756 (to play or pause media), a D-pad760 (which includes north, east, west, and south directional arrows tonavigate among displayed images and/or move between levels of anapplication's or object's hierarchy such as application view navigation,panel navigation, and collection navigation), an OK (or select) button764 (to select a highlighted displayed image (such as displayed speedcontrol, rewind, forward, play, and pause objects and/or objects on menubar or in a menu box) and/or navigate down a hierarchy of any displayedimage or object(s)), a rocker-type volume-up and volume-down button 768(to adjust the volume), a menu/guide button 772 (to select for display amenu or guide of programming), a 0-9 (number) button 776 (to display anumber pad on the TV screen), a settings button 780 (which launches anapplication to access current and change TV settings (such as channelsettings and settings used to adjust picture and sound effects (e.g.,image mode (e.g., standard, playground, game, cinema, concert, andstudio), brightness, contrast, saturation, color temperature, energysavings, 3D noise reduction, hue, sharpness, zoom mode (e.g., fullscreen, standard, smart zoom, and dot-to-dot), picture position, 3Dmode, for picture, and sound retrieval system or SRS TruSurround, soundmode (e.g., standard, live 1, live 2, theatre, music, speech, userequalizer mode, Left/Right speaker balance, auto volume control,Sony/Philips Interconnect Format or S/PDIF (off, auto, pulse codemodulation or PCM) for sound) and system settings (such as system (e.g.,selected language for graphical user interface, user geographical and/orgeopolitical location information, input method, area settings, andsleep time), network (e.g., WiFi, WiFi hotspot, WiFi direct,Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet or PPPoE (asymmetric digitalsubscriber line or ADSL), Ethernet) settings (e.g., enabled and disabledand selected and non-selected) and information (e.g., networkinformation (e.g., electronic address such as Internet Protocol or IPaddress, subnet mask, gateway, domain name server information, domainname, Media Access Control or MAC address, service set identification orSSID, security information, and password information) and inlinestatus), manage applications (e.g., currently installed applications,currently executing applications, and internal and external computerreadable medium usage), and view user information regarding theIntelligent TV 100)), a rocker-type channel-up and channel-down button784 (to increment or decrement the selected channel), and first, second,third and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796, and/or a moveablejoystick 900 on a bottom of the remote control 700. The first, second,third, and fourth hotkeys are generally assigned different colors, whichcolor indexing is depicted as visual indicia on a selected panel to showthe currently assigned function, if any, for each hotkey. As can beseen, the actuator layout can provide a highly efficient, satisfactory,and easily usable experience to the end user.

Unlike the functional associations and functions of many of theactuators, those of some of the actuators are not readily apparent. Anumber of examples will now be discussed by way of illustration.

The media center button 736, when selected, can provide informationregarding music, videos, photographs, collections or groupings of music,videos, and/or photographs, and internal and external computationaldevices (such as personal computers, laptops, tablet computers, wirelessphones, removable computer readable media, and the like), which can begrouped in a selected manner (such as favorites, most recently viewed,most watched or viewed, and most recently added). The information canincludes previews (which can include selected portions of the mediacontent, duration, file size, date created, date last watched, timeswatched or viewed, and audio and/or video format information).

The application center button 740, when selected, may provideinformation regarding pre-installed and downloaded applications. Unlikedownloaded applications, pre-installed applications cannot be removed bythe user or manually updated. Exemplary pre-installed applicationsinclude web browser, settings control, and content search algorithms. Byway of illustration, the application center button 740 can provide ascrollable graphical grid of icons (each icon being associated with anapplication) currently available in the application center.

The global panel button 744, when selected, can provide the user, viaone or more panels or windows, with access to one or more of, but notlimited to, silos, notifications, a web browser, system settings, and/orinformation associated therewith. For example, the global panel button744 can enable the user to determine what external devices are currentlyconnected to and/or disconnected from the Intelligent TV 100, determinewhat inputs (e.g., HDMI ports) are currently available for connecting toexternal devices, determine a connection and/or operational status of aselected external device and/or network (e.g., WiFi connected, Ethernetconnected, and offline), assign a custom (or user selected) name to eachinput source, determine what content is currently being offered on LiveTV, on demand, the media center, and/or the application center, accessvendor messages and notifications to the user (e.g., system and/orapplication updates are available), activate the Internet browser,and/or access shortcuts on a displayed shortcut bar to more frequentlyused and desired applications. Common shortcuts are Internet browser(e.g., Internet search engine), system settings, and notifications. Thecommon types of panels are for information (which is typicallyinformation related to a currently displayed image and/or content (e.g.,title, date/time, audio/visual indicator, rating, and genre), browserequests, and/or search requests (such as search term field)). Each ofthe panel types may include a panel navigation bar, detailed informationor relevant content to the panel function, operation and/or purpose, anda hotkey bar (defining currently enabled functional associations ofhotkeys).

The application panel button 748, when selected, can display anapplication window or panel. One application panel may be an informationpanel regarding a selected (pre-installed or previously downloaded)application icon. The information panel can one or more of identify theselected application, provide a description of the functionality(including application developer and/or vendor, version, release, and/orlast update date and a category or type of application based on theapplication's functionality) and user ratings and/or degree of otheruser downloading of the application (e.g., a star rating assigned basedon one or more of the foregoing inputs), provide the option to launch,remove, update, and add to favorites the identified application, andprovide a listing of selectable links of other (not yet downloaded)recommended applications that provide similar functionality to theidentified application. The latter listing can, in turn, provide adescription of the functionality (including application developer and/orvendor, version, release, and/or last update date and a category or typeof application based on the application's functionality) and userratings and/or degree of other user downloading of the application(e.g., a star rating assigned based on one or more of the foregoinginputs).

The functions of the first, second, third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792,794, and 796 can change depending on system state, context, and/or,within a selected screen and/or panel, based on a content or currentlyselected portion of (or relative cursor position on) the screen.Commonly, a currently assigned function of any of the first, second,third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796 depends on a currentlyaccessed silo and/or panel (with which the user is currently interactingwithin the silo). In other words, a first function of one of the first,second, third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796 is activated bythe respective hotkey in a first system state while a different secondfunction is activated by the respective hotkey in a different secondsystem state. In another example, a third function of one of the first,second, third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796 is activated bythe respective hotkey when a user focus (or currently selected cursorposition or screen portion) is at a first screen position while adifferent fourth function is activated by the respective hotkey when auser focus (or currently selected cursor position or screen portion) isat a different second screen position. The first screen position can,for instance, be within an icon while the second screen position isoutside of the icon. Hotkey functionality that could be enabled when inthe first screen position may be “configure” and “remove” and disabledis “add”, and, when in the second position hotkey functionality enabledcan be “add” and disabled is “configure” and “remove”. Generally, thestates of hotkeys can include normal (for enabled actions or functions),disabled (when an action or function is temporarily disabled), pressed(when selected by a user to command an action or function to beperformed), and unavailable (when no association between the hotkey andan action or function is currently available). While examples of hotkeyfunctions are discussed below, it is to be understood that these are notintended to be exhaustive or limiting examples.

The first hotkey 788, when selected in a first system state, can enablethe user to assign, change, or edit a name of an input source. It istypically enabled only when the input source of HDMI, Comp/YPbPr (e.g.,component video cables), video output, and VGA is in focus. Whenselected in a second system state, the first hotkey 788 can return theuser to a top of a scrollable collection of objects, such as applicationicons.

The second hotkey 792 may show all or less. In other words, the hotkey792 can allow the user to show all inputs, including theunconnected/undetected ones and to hide the unconnected/undetectedinputs, e.g., to expand and collapse the silo/input list. Each inputsource can have one of two states, namely connected/detected andunconnected/undetected. Some input sources, including Live TV, video ondemand, media center, and application center are alwaysconnected/detected.

The moveable joystick 900 on the bottom of the remote control 700, whenmanipulated, can cause a displayed image on the Intelligent TV 100screen to be displaced a proportional amount. In other words, thedisplayed image is displaced substantially simultaneously withdisplacement of the joystick 900 within the joystick aperture 904 in thebottom housing 712 of the remote control. As shown in FIGS. 9B-C, thejoystick 900 moves or slides between forward and reverse positions.Releasing the joystick 900 causes the joystick 900 to return to thecenter position of FIG. 9A, and the window to move or slide upwardly(when the joystick is released from the joystick position of FIG. 9B) ordownwardly (when the joystick is released from the joystick position ofFIG. 9C) until it disappears from view as shown in FIG. 11A. The effecton the screen of the Intelligent TV 100 is shown in FIGS. 11A-C. In FIG.11A, video content, such as TV programming, a video, movie, and thelike, is being displayed by front surface of the screen 212. In FIG.11B, the joystick 900 is moved or slid to the upper position of FIG. 9B,and a drop down window or panel 1100 moves or slides down (at thesubstantially the same rate of joystick 900 movement) at the top of thescreen 212. In FIG. 11C, the joystick 900 is moved or slid to the lowerposition of FIG. 9C, and a drop up window or panel 1100 moves or slidesup (at the substantially the same rate of joystick 900 movement) at thebottom of the screen 212. The window 1100 partially covers the videocontent appearing on the remainder of the screen 212 and/or causes aportion of the screen 212 displaying video content to move and/orcompress up or down the height of the window 1100.

The window 1100 can include one or more of information (which istypically information related to a currently displayed image and/orcontent (e.g., panel navigation bar, detailed information (e.g., title,date/time, audio/visual indicator, rating, and genre), and hotkey bar(defining current functional associations of hotkeys)), browse requests,and/or search requests. Commonly, the window 1100 includes suitableinformation about the content (such as name, duration, and/or remainingviewing duration of content), settings information, TV or system controlinformation, application (activation) icons (such as for pre-installedand/or downloaded applications such as application center, media centerand Web browser), and/or information about input source(s), When thejoystick 900 is in either the forward or reverse position, the user canselect an actuator on the front of the remote control, such as the OKbutton 764, and be taken, by displayed images on the screen 212, toanother location in the user interface, such as a desktop. This processcan be done in a nonintrusive manner and without affecting the flow ofcontent that is pushed up or down. The joystick 900 could be moved,additionally or differently, from side-to-side to cause the window toappear at the left or right edge of the screen 212.

An alternative actuator configuration is shown in FIG. 10. The actuatorsare substantially the same as those of FIGS. 7-9 except that the socialnetwork button 1000, when selected, can automatically select content andpublish, via a social network service or other social media, the contentto a social network or online community. User or viewer comments and/orother messages can be included in the outbound message. For example, allor one or frames or portions of media content (such as a video, music, aphotograph, a picture, or text) can be provided automatically to apredetermined or selected group of people via LinkedIn™, Myspace™,Twitter™, YouTube™, DailyMotion™, Facebook™, Google+™) or Second Life™.The user, upon activating the button 1000 could, in response, select asocial forum or media upon which the selected content (which is thecontent displayed to the user when the social network button 1000 isactivated) is to be posted and/or a predetermined group within thatsocial media to which the content is to be posted. Alternatively, theseselections could be preconfigured or preselected by the user.

The social network button can also be used to “turn up” or “turn down” asocial volume visualization. The Intelligent TV 100 can createdynamically a visualization of aggregated connections (and inboundand/or outbound messages) from a variety of social networks. Theaggregation (and inbound and outbound messages) can be depictedgraphically on the screen as a volume of connections to influence theviewer user. With a social volume visualization, selected contents ofeach linked social network profile of a social contact (and inboundand/or outbound messages from or to the linked social network contactand/or current activity of the social contact (such as watching the sameprogramming or content the viewer is currently watching) can bepresented in a separate tile (or visually displayed object). The size ofthe tile can be related to any number of criteria, including arelationship of the linked social contact (e.g., a relative degree ofimportance or type of relationship can determine the relative size ofthe tile, a degree of influence of the linked social contact to thecurrent viewer, a geographic proximity of the linked social contact tothe current viewer, a degree to which the currently provided mediacontent is of interest to both the viewer and linked social contact(e.g., both parties enjoy war movies, murder mysteries, musicals,comedies, and the like), an assigned ranking of the linked viewer by theviewer, a type of social network type linking the viewer with the linkedsocial contact, a current activity of the social network contact (e.g.,currently watching the same content that the viewer is currentlywatching), a current online or offline status of the linked socialcontact, and a social network grouping type or category to which boththe viewer and linked social contact belong (e.g., work contact, bestfriend, family member, etc.).

The viewer can designate a portion of the screen to depict the socialnetwork aggregation. By turning the social volume up (+) or down (−),the viewer can increase the size and/or numbers of linked contact tilesprovided to the viewer. In other words, by increasing the social volumethe viewer can view, access, and/or push more social content from thoseof his or her social networks associated with him or her in a memory ofthe Intelligent TV. By decreasing the social volume, the viewer canview, access, and/or push less social content from his or her associatedsocial networks. By selecting the mute button 724, the viewer can stopor pause any interactivity with his or her associated social networks(e.g., inbound or outbound messages). Social volume and/or mute can beseparated into two (or more) volume settings for outbound and inboundsocial network activity. By way of illustration, a first volume setting,control, and/or button can control the volume for outbound socialnetwork activity (e.g., outbound social messages) while a second(different) volume setting, control, and/or button can control thevolume for inbound social network activity (e.g., inbound socialmessages). By way of further illustration, a first mute setting,control, and/or button can stop or pause outbound social networkactivity (e.g., outbound social messages) while a second (different)mute setting, control, and/or button can stop or pause inbound socialnetwork activity (e.g., inbound social messages).

A functional block diagram of the remote control is shown in FIG. 12.The remote control 700 includes a controller 1208 to control andsupervise remote control operations, optional wireless (RF) transceiver1224 and antenna 1244 to send and receive wireless signals to and fromthe Intelligent TV 100 and other external components, optional infraredemitter 1228 to emit infrared signals to the Intelligent TV 100,optional light emitting diode or LED driver 1232 to control LEDoperation to provide video-enabled feedback to the user, actuators 1220(including the various buttons and other actuators discussed above inconnection with FIGS. 7 and 10), and joystick 900, all interconnectedvia a bus 1248. An on board power source 1200 and power managementmodule 1204 provide power to each of these components via powercircuitry 1240. The infrared emitter 1228 and receiver (not shown) onthe Intelligent TV system 100 can be used to determine a displayedobject illuminated by the infrared signal and therefore adjust thedisplayed image, for example to indicate a focus of the user (e.g.,illuminate a displayed object or show cursor position relative todisplayed objects on the screen) and to determine and activate a desiredcommand of the user. This can be done by tracking a position of theremote control in relation to infrared tracking reference points (e.g.,a sensor bar or infrared LED's) positioned on or adjacent to the screenof the Intelligent TV 100. Motion tracking can further be augmentedusing position information received from a multi-axis gyroscope and/oraccelerometer on board the remote control (not shown).

An embodiment of another Intelligent TV system 1400 is shown in FIG. 14.The Intelligent Television 100 connects through a network 132 by one ormore communications interfaces 108 to one or more social media sites1404 a through 1404 c. There may be more or fewer social media sites1404, than that shown in FIG. 14, as represented by the ellipses 1408.The communications links 108 can be bidirectional and may include or useany format, protocol, or system as described in conjunction with FIG. 1.

The social media sites 1404 can be any kind of social media website,server, or other system or content provider that allows the user tointeract socially with other people or systems. These social media sites1404 can include, for example, Twitter™, Facebook™, one or more blogs,one or more video blogs, YouTube™, MySpace™, etc. The Intelligent TV 100is operable to interact as an agent or intermediary for one or moreusers identified by the Intelligent TV 100. Therefore, the IntelligentTV 100 can access and retrieve social media data from one or more of thesocial media sites 1404 or post information from the Intelligent TV 100to the social media sites 1404.

The Intelligent TV 100 can interact with a user through a computersystem 168 f or through remote control 168 h, as previously described.The Intelligent TV 100 can use the interactions to identify the user andto obtain information that allows the Intelligent TV 100 to access thesocial media sites 1404.

A further embodiment of the computer system described in conjunctionwith the FIGS. 4 and 5 is shown in FIG. 15. The system applications 416can include a new application 1504 directed to social media interaction.The social media interaction application 1504 can interact with theinput event dispatcher 508 to receive events that are associated withthe publishing or retrieval of social media. The social mediainteraction application 1504 can also store, retrieve, or manage socialmedia data or user data in a user information database 1532 and/or asocial data database 1528. The user information data, in the userinformation database 1532, can include login credentials for one or moresocial media sites, user names, and other information used or associatedwith a user and employed to access social media sites 1404.

Social media data 1528 can include social media postings or otherinformation associated with the social media sites 1404. The socialmedia data 1528 may be stored locally or remotely and can be used topost social media content to the Intelligent TV 100. The social mediaapplication 1504 can also interact with the user interface application468, including the silo manager 532 and the panel manager 536. Thus, thesocial media application 1504 can publish to and/or render informationfrom the Smart TV 100 user interface as controlled by the silo manager532 and/or the panel manager 536.

A social media application 1504 can include one or more of the followingmodules, but is not limited to, an identifier module 1508, an accessmodule 1512, a retrieve module 1516, a publish model 1524, and apresenter module 1520. The identifier module 1508 is operable toretrieve user login information after identifying a user. The identifiermodule 1508 may identify a user by a code or some other informationentered by the user through the remote control 168 h, through a computer168 f, or through some other interface. Further, each user may have aseparate and reserved remote control 168 h that sends a uniqueidentifying signal. Thus, if the remote control 168 h is identified,then the user using the remote control 168 h is also identified. Theidentifier module 1508 can also use other means to identify the user,including facial recognition, biometric information, voice recognition,or some other passive or active system or process that identifies auser. Once identified, the identifier module 1508 can use theinformation to access user information database 1532 to retrieve socialmedia site information, including, but not limited to, user names andpasswords that allow the Intelligent Television 100 to access the socialmedia sites 1404.

The information retrieved from the user information database 1532 isprovided to the access module 1512. The access module 1512 can thenaccess the social media sites 1404 and login to those social media sites1404 as an agent or proxy for the user. The social media application1504 may then be able to access the data within those different socialmedia sites 1404.

The retrieve module 1516 can, after access is gained by the accessmodule 1512, retrieve social media data from the social media sites1404. The retrieve module 1516 may be able to crawl or filter the socialmedia sites 1404 to determine new information (new information may becontent added to the social media site 1404 after the last time accesswas gained). The retrieve module 1516 may then copy and retrieve thatinformation to store in the local social database 1528. The retrievemodule 1516 may also provide the social media data to a user interfaceapplication 468, such as the silo manager 532 or the panel manager 536.

Once retrieved, the social media data may be presented to the user, bythe presenter module 1520. The presenter module 1520 is operable toprovide rendered or usable information to the user interface application468 to show on a user interface of the Intelligent TV 100. Thispresented social media data may social media posting and include one ormore of, but is not limited to, videos, audio files, pictures, commentsfrom other users, or other information that is retrieved by the retrievemodule 1516. The presenter module 1520 can react to any type of inputevent received by the input event dispatcher 508 that increases ordecreases the amount of information desired by the user. Thus, thepresenter module 1520 can provide more or less social media data and mayinstruct the retrieve module 1516 to retrieve more or less social mediadata based on user input.

A publisher module 1524 is operable to receive an input from the inputevent dispatcher 508 that includes social media data to be posted. Thepublisher module 1524 can package the information for the social mediasite 1404 to publish. As the publisher module 1524 is operable totranslate or configure any kind of posting that allows the IntelligentTV 100 to post that information to the social media site 1404, thepublisher module 1524 may act as a proxy for the user.

An embodiment of a database 1600, including one or more data structures1604, where user information is stored is shown in FIG. 16. Thus, thedatabase 1600 may be associated with the user information database 1532.There may be more or fewer data structures 1604 included in the database1600, as represented by ellipses 1636. The data structure 1604 caninclude one or more fields to store information. Those fields mayinclude a user identifier field 1608, an identity information field1612, a biographical information field 1616, a biometric informationfield 1620, a social media accounts information field 1624, a socialmedia user IDs field 1628, and/or a social media passwords field 1632.There may be more or fewer fields than those shown in FIG. 16, asrepresented by ellipses 1640.

A user ID field 1608 can include an identifier (ID) for the user that isinterfacing with the Intelligent TV 100. Each user may have a uniqueuser ID 1608 that can be alphanumeric, numeric, a globally uniqueidentifier (GUID), or some other unique and novel identifier.

Identity information 1612 can include any information needed to identifythe user and access the data structure 1604 associated with that user.The identity information 1612 can include information such as a username, password, or some other kind of information provided by the userto the Intelligent TV 100 to identify the user. The biographicalinformation 1616 can include any information that better defines theuser. This biographical information 1616 can include informationretrieved from social media sites or provided by the user. Biographicalinformation 1616 can include one or more of the following, but is notlimited to, an address, a full name, a birthdate, a social securitynumber, an address, a telephone number, an email address, or other suchinformation. Biometric information 1620 can be any information thatdescribes the appearance or some characteristic of the user. Biometricinformation 1620 can be used with, or instead of, identity information1612 to identify the user associated with the data structure 1604.Biometric information 1620 can include one or more of, but is notlimited to, fingerprints, facial recognition information, voicerecognition information, or other such information associated with aphysical characteristic of the user.

Social media accounts information 1624 can include any information aboutwhich social media sites the user may belong to, have access to, and/orhave an account with. Thus, the social media accounts 1624 lists thesocial media sites 1404 to which the user may interface. A social mediauser IDs field 1628 can include the user's usernames for at least one ofthe social media accounts 1624. The social media passwords field 1632can include the password used by at least one of the social mediaaccounts listed in social media accounts fields 1624. Thus, theinformation in field 1624-1632 can be used to access the social mediasites 1404 for the user associated with the data structure 1604.

An embodiment of a database 1700 for storing social media information,such as that associated with database 1528, is shown in FIG. 17. Thedatabase 1700 can include one or more data structures 1704. There may bemore or fewer data structures in the database 1700 than that shown inFIG. 17, as represented by ellipses 1732. The data structures 1704 caninclude one or more fields, but not limited to, a social media accountsfield 1708, social media user IDs field 1712, social media passwordsfield 1716, social media metadata field 1720, a social media datainbound field 1724, and/or a social media data outbound field 1728. Thesocial media data structure 1704 can include more or fewer field thanthose shown in FIG. 17, as represented by ellipses 1736.

The social media accounts field 1708 may be the same or similar to thesocial media accounts field 1624, as described in conjunction with FIG.16. The social media user IDs field 1712 can be the same or similar tothe social media user IDs field 1628 described in FIG. 16. Further, thesocial media passwords field 1716 may be the same or similar to thesocial media passwords field 1613 as described in FIG. 16. Thus, fields1708 through 1716 will not be described further as the descriptionassociated with FIG. 16 is applicable to these fields.

The social media metadata field 1720 can include any metadata associatedwith social media content. The social media metadata 1720 can includeinformation that describes the content as stored or provided. Socialmedia metadata 1720 can include one or more of, but is not limited to, adate and/or time at which the social media posting was made or received,the type of social media posting, the size of the social media posting,the person to which made the social media posting, which site the socialmedia posting was made on, information about a poster of social mediacontent, or other such information. The social media metadata 1720 maybe used to organize or modify the user interfaces provided herein. Thesocial media metadata 1720 can also include information about one ormore posters, including one or more of, but not limited to, the amountof likes or dislikes received by that poster, the number of subscribers,the number of views of content, or some other information that indicatesan influence or readership of a social media poster. Further, the socialmedia metadata 1720 can include information about how a poster orcontent source is associated with or related to a user of theIntelligent TV 100.

Social media data fields 1724 and 1728 can include the content of asocial media posting. This social media data 1724 and 1728 can includepictures, text, audio, visual or such data. The inbound field 1724stores social media data that is inbound to the Intelligent TV 100.Outbound field 1728 stores social media data that is outbound from theIntelligent TV 100 and is to be posted, is posted, or has been posted,on a social media site 1404.

Another embodiment of a remote control 1800 is shown in FIG. 18. Theremote control 1800 can include a social media volume button 1000. Thissocial media volume button may be used to control the amount of socialmedia either inbound to or outbound from the Intelligent TV 100. Theremote control 1800 can also include an “ooh-aah” button 1804. Theooh-aah button may be selected to post some type of media content orother data to social media sites. For example, when selected by a user,the ooh-aah button 1804 causes the remote control 1800 to send a signalto the Intelligent TV 100 to act as a proxy and post social media data,which is in focus or selected in the Intelligent Television 100interface, to one or more social media sites. The Intelligent Television100 may then post the social media using canned, pre-determined, orpreselected processes to one or more social media sites 1404 associatedwith the user.

For example, the user may browse pictures within a media application.Upon selecting a picture, the user may select the ooh-aah button 1804.Selecting the button 1804 causes the Intelligent Television to send thepicture data associated with the selected picture, on the IntelligentTelevision user interface, to one or more social media sites 1404. Thus,the user can take a picture from their media application and post thepicture directly to a social media site (e.g., Facebook™) using aone-click button 1804 on the remote control 1800.

An embodiment of a method 1900 for obtaining one or more social mediafeeds is shown in FIG. 19. While a general order for the steps of themethod 1900 is shown in FIG. 19. Generally, the method 1900 starts witha start operation 1904 and ends with an end operation 1932. The method1900 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the order of thesteps differently than those shown in FIG. 19. The method 1900 can beexecuted as a set of computer-executable instructions, executed by acomputer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium.Further, the method 1900 can be executed by a gate or other hardwaredevice or component in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, aField Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardware device.Hereinafter, the method 1900 shall be explained with reference to thesystems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

A user may begin interacting with the Intelligent Television 100 byinterfacing with the remote control 168 h. Any interaction or otherinformation received by the Intelligent Television 100 can be used bythe identifier module 1508 to identify the user, in step 1908. The usermay exchange data with the Television 100, such as a user name,password, identifier, or other information. Further, the identifiermodule 1508 can obtain information about the user, including any type offacial or voice recognition, fingerprint analysis, or some otherbiometric data. Any of the information received or retrieved by theidentifier module 1508 can be used to identify the user.

The identifier module 1508 can then determine whether the identifieduser is new, in step 1912. The identifier module 1508 may search for theinformation received about the user in one or more identity informationfields 1612 or biometric information fields 1620, of data structure1604, in the database 1600. If the information is found, then the useris not new, and the method 1900 proceeds YES to step 1916. However, ifthe retrieved or received information is not the same or similar to thedata in fields 1612 and 1620, the identifier module 1508 may thendetermine that the user is new, and the method 1900 proceeds NO to step1920.

In step 1916, the identifier module 1508 may obtain the social mediacredentials from the new user and store those credentials the fields1612 and 1620. The module 1508 can then create a new data structure 1604with a new user ID 1608. The identifier module 1508 may then present aseries of questions, in the user interface, to determine to which socialmedia accounts the user belongs, what the user IDs and passwords are forthose accounts, and any other necessary information. This receivedinformation can be stored in fields 1624 through 1632. Optionally, theidentifier module 1508 may also ask any information aboutcharacteristics or other types of data associated with biographicalinformation 1616. This information may also be stored in data structure1604.

In step 1920, the identifier module 1508 may retrieve the data structure1604, and any other credential information stored in fields 1624 through1632 associated with the user. This information may then be sent to theaccess module 1512.

Upon retrieving the information or the credentials, the access module1512 may then access the social media sites associated with the user. Apublish module 1524 may then record what is being watched, for example,the movie or content shown in interface 2000 of FIG. 20A. For example,if the user is watching “The Avengers,” the publish module 1524 canpublish that information to one or more social media sites 1404. Thus,the user's Facebook™ page may contain a published indication that theuser is watching “The Avengers” at that moment. The publish module 1524can also publish other types of information, including the TV serieswatched, the television channel being watched, or other informationabout the content. Thus, the publish module 1524 can automaticallypublish or record what is being watched, in step 1924, for a user aftergaining access to the one or more social media sites.

After gaining access, the retrieve module 1516 can retrieve one or moresocial media datasets and may store those media datasets in the socialmedia data 1528. A presenter module 1520 may then provide the socialmedia feeds to the user, in step 1928. For example, after retrievinginformation, the presenter module 1520 can create user interfaceaddition 2004, as shown in FIG. 20B. Here, the presenter module 1520 isshowing one or more indications of other people using social media thatmay be associated with the content the user's currently viewing. Thisuser interface may be selectable such that the user may be able toselect a picture or icon to see what social media is being provided.

In other instances, the actual pictures or icons shown in 2004 areindicative of an importance of the person, the relation of that personto the user, or some other indication of which the user may beconcerned. The tuning into social media channels can be done based on anepisode, show, or channel. The tuning into social media channels can bedone by a single user or many users. Thus, if several users are tuninginto a into social media channel, or identified as watching thetelevision, the social media feeds may be aggregated onto the televisionuser interface.

Further, any posting may go to two or more users' social media accounts.The tuning can be done by either a button or other interaction, withremote control or some on-screen method or menu, that may be navigatedby a user using buttons either on the Intelligent TV or on the remotecontrol. The type of tuning completed by the user may influence thevisualization presented on the user interface. For example, if severalusers are tuning into a program, the visualization of the pile of socialmedia pictures 2004 may be visually different. Further, a tune-in intocontent by a user may register that user as viewing a particular show orepisode for other users of the Intelligent TV in other households. Thus,the user, once registered, may be shown on someone else's TV as viewinga particular content. The information about the social media tune-in canbe published to social networks, can be used for badging or sharing withadvertisers, and can influence the analytics algorithms used tostatistically measure how or what content is being watched.

A method 2100 for providing a user interface specific to a type ofinteraction being conducted by the user shown in FIG. 21. While ageneral order for the steps of the method 2100 is shown in FIG. 21.Generally, the method 2100 starts with a start operation 2104 and endswith an end operation 2140. The method 2100 can include more or fewersteps or can arrange the order of the steps differently than those shownin FIG. 21. The method 2100 can be executed as a set ofcomputer-executable instructions, executed by a computer system, andencoded or stored on a computer readable medium. Further, the method2100 can be executed by a gate or other hardware device or component inan Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a Field Programmable GateArray, or other type of hardware device. Hereinafter, the method 2100shall be explained with reference to the systems, components, modules,software, data structures, user interfaces, etc. described herein.

An Intelligent TV 100 may receive a programming change input, in step2108. The programming change input can be a signal sent from the remotecontrol 700 that occurs when a user selects a channel change button 784,EPG button 776, or some other type of programming change input button.The remote control 700 sends a signal to the Intelligent TV, which isreceived by the IR/RF module 354. The IR/RF module 354 then sends thesignal to the processor 364 to be interpreted. After receiving thesingal, the processor may execute a driver 420 for the remote control700 in the operating system kernel 404. The driver 420 may translate thereceived signal and provide that translated signal to the OS runtime424. The OS runtime 424 may then execute an instance of the input eventdispatcher 508, which may then react or interpret the signal further.The remote control input is then sent from the input event dispatcher508 to one or more user interface application 468 components to providea user interface display. This process is similar for all remote control700 inputs and will not be explained again hereinafter but thisdescription should apply hereinafter.

The user interface module 468 can determine the state of the IntelligentTV 100, in step 2112. The state of the TV may be one or more of, but isnot limited to, whether social media is being provided, what type ofcontent is currently being viewed, what the state of that content in thedisplay, etc. The user interface application 468 may also determineother factors related to the status of the TV and to understand theprogramming change input. Such determinations allow the user interfaceapplication to understand what will need to be shown on the userinterface of the TV to effect the change in programming.

The input event dispatcher 508 may also send the interpretated signal ofthe programming input change to the presenter module 1520. The presentermodule 1520 can determine what social media selection has been made, instep 2116. Here, the presenter module 1520 may interpret past or currentinputs as to how much or what type of social media is being provided onthe television. This information may then be used by the presentermodule 1520 to inform the user interface application 468 as to how topresent the social media during or after the programming input change.

The user interface application 468 may then determine the type ofprogramming change that was made, in step 2120. Here, the user interfaceapplication 468 can determine if the programming input change is achange of the channel, a selection to view the electronic programmingguide (EPG), a selection to view the card display, or a selection of anapplication. There may be other types of programming change types thatare included and envisioned in the application herein. Depending on thetype of programming change, the silo manager 532, the panel manager 536,or another user interface application 468 may then be signaled to changethe programming or make a transition of programming while including aview of social media available for that programming that is selected bythe user.

If the type of programming change is to change the channel, the method2100 proceeds through the CHANNEL path to step 2124. If the programmingtype change is for electronic programming guide, the method 2100proceeds through the EPG path to step 2128. If the programming change isfor a card display, the method 2100 proceeds through the CARD path tostep 2132. Finally, if the programming type change is for anapplication, the method 2100 proceeds through the APPLICATION path tostep 2136.

In a programming type change, the silo manager 532 can provide a displayfor changing the channels, step 2124. Here, the silo manager 532 canshow a transition between two television or content channels. An exampledisplay 2200 is shown in FIG. 22. Here, the silo manager 532 shows thetransition from a first content panel 2204 to a second content panel2208. The movement may be up or down depending on the direction of thechannel change. Regardless, the current panel may appear to move up ordown off the screen while the new channel panel is presented on the userinterface 2200. The panels, while moving, can show a display ofinformation about the social media associated with that panel. Forexample, panel 2208 provides for a pile view of thumbnails (e.g., socialmedia pictures or icons) 2212 that indicates that there is social mediaassociated with the content of that panel 2208. Further, the panel 2208can provide a description of the type social media, for example, theinformation 2216, which describes the associated Facebook™ social mediacontent that is associated with the content presented in panel 2208.Thus, as channel changes are being made, the user can receive a visualand descriptive indication of the social media that may be associatedwith that program or content.

In step 2128, the panel manager 536 and/or silo manager 532 may providecontent 2304, in a user interface 2300, as shown in FIG. 23. The usermay then select an EPG display and be provided with a silo 2308 whichprovides the EPG. Thus, the silo manager 532 can provide for a silo orpanel on one portion of the display 2300 that shows electronicprogramming guide information. The EPG guide may include one or moreprogram listings 2312 for one or more channels. The program listings2312 can have an indication of social media content 2316 a, 2316 b,which demonstrates that social media is associated with the contentbeing provided by that channel. The view of the social media indication2316 may be different depending on the volume of social media providedfor that content or based on the size or display area of the channel orcontent description. Thus, the silo manager 532 and/or panel manager 536can provide for an EPG panel with social medial indications as shown inFIG. 23.

A card view 2400 can be provided by the silo manager 532 and/or panelmanager 536, in step 2132, which includes a user interface providingcards of different content. The cards 2404, 2408, show a single episodeor program on some channel, station, or content provider that may beassociated with recommended content or content selected as a favorite bya user. The 2404, 2408 card may be selected to switch the channel toprovide that content. Each content card 2404, 2408, may include anindication of social media associated with that program. For example,social media indications 2412 a and 2412 b provide an indication ofsocial media is associated with that particular program. Theseindications may be of different types, and may change by visualappearance or style based on how much social media is provided with theprogram or what type of social media is provided with the program. Thus,the silo manager 532 and/or panel manager 536 can provide these socialmedia indications as provided by the presenter module 1520 based on whatcontent the user desires to view and/or what type of social media isoffered with that content.

In step 2136, the silo manager 532 and/or panel manager 536, or someother function of the user interface application 468, can provide a view2500 of a social media application, shown in FIG. 25. The view 2500 caninclude one or more indications of social media, 2504, 2508 associatedwith the social media application. Here, the social media applicationcan receive information from the presenter module 1520 and provideindications of social media currently available for the user. Thissocial media can include pictures, texts, blog entries, or otherinformation provided in the user's various social media streams. Thedisplay provided by the presenter module 1520 can provide an indicationof the type of social media, the amount of social media that's beingprovided, a timeline for that social media, or other indications of therelation of social media to the user.

A method 2600 for changing the appearance of the social mediaapplication is shown in FIG. 26. While a general order for the steps ofthe method 2600 is shown in FIG. 26. Generally, the method 2600 startswith a start operation 2604 and ends with an end operation 2620. Themethod 2600 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the order ofthe steps differently than those shown in FIG. 26. The method 2600 canbe executed as a set of computer-executable instructions, executed by acomputer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium.Further, the method 2600 can be executed by a gate or other hardwaredevice or component in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, aField Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardware device.Hereinafter, the method 2600 shall be explained with reference to thesystems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

A user may send a signal, via the remote control 700, to switch the userinterface to a social media application, in step 2608. The IntelligentTV 100 may receive this signal and interpret the signal to present thesocial media application. The process of receiving the social mediaapplication signal may be similar to that as described in FIG. 21.

The presenter module 1520 may, upon switching to the social media app,determine the state of the social media streams, in step 2612. Here, thepresenter module 1520 may access the social data 1528, as provided bythe retrieve module 1516. In the social media data 1528, the presentermodule 1520 may determine what metadata and other data is provided indata structure(s) 1704, in fields 1720 through 1728. This informationcan be used to order or sort the social media. The information candetermine the state as to one of more of, but not limited to, favorites,what's been watched, what hasn't been viewed, the timing of the socialmedia streams, and other such data. On determining the state of thesocial media data, the presenter module 1520 may order/sort the socialmedia data for presentation in user interface 2500.

The presenter module 1520 may then provide the information to the userinterface application 468 to provide an application view 2500 withchanges associated with the state of the social media, in step 2616.Here, the application view 2500 provides for different views of socialmedia streams based on preview thumbnails. These thumbnails may each beordered or changed based on the state of the social media stream. Forexample, a delineation line 2512 indicates a demarcation between datesof when the social media was received. For example, thumbnails to theright of demarcation 2512 may be received on March 24th, whilethumbnails presented to the left of demarcation 2512 may have beenreceived before March 24th. Further, within each date, the thumbnailsmay be changed to indicate some sort of state of the social media. Forexample, the size of the thumbnail may indicate how many views have beenmade to that particular piece of social media. For example, the mostviewed thumbnail 2524 is smaller than the most viewed thumbnail 2508 toindicate that the social media associated with thumbnail 2524 does nothave as many views as the social media associated with thumbnail 2508.

Further, the thumbnails may be an item picked from the social media toprovide a visual indication of what the social media is about. Forexample, the recently watched thumbnail 2520 may provide a picture or aframe of video from the social media. Thus, the user can determinequickly what the social media may be and whether it is worth selectingto view. The user may also select or highlight one or more of thethumbnails, for example, thumbnail 2516, which can indicate to the userthey may select that thumbnail to view that social media. The order ofthe social media thumbnails, and the sorting or placement of the socialmedia within the application user interface 2500, may also indicateother types of status of the social media.

An embodiment of a method 2700 for semantically presenting social mediastream information is provided in FIG. 27. While a general order for thesteps of the method 2700 is shown in FIG. 27. Generally, the method 2700starts with a start operation 2704 and ends with an end operation 2732.The method 2700 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the orderof the steps differently than those shown in FIG. 27. The method 2700can be executed as a set of computer-executable instructions, executedby a computer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readablemedium. Further, the method 2700 can be executed by a gate or otherhardware device or component in an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardwaredevice. Hereinafter, the method 2700 shall be explained with referenceto the systems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

The presenter module 1520 can determine the origin of social media basedon social media metadata 1720, in step 2708. The origin of the socialmedia may be based on country or user or poster. This origin may bestored by the retrieve module 1516 in the social media metadata field1720.

The presenter module 1520 can also determine a relation of thatpresenter or poster determined in step 2708, in step 2712. The relationmay be whether the poster is a friend, whether the channel is subscribedto, whether the user has liked information in the social media postings,or some other information that may be determined about the relationshipbetween the current TV watcher and the social media poster. Thisinformation may be presented or extracted from data in a social mediametadata 1720.

The presenter module 1520 may also determine some frequency of postingsby the poster determined in step 2708, in step 2716. A frequency ofposting, for example, every hour, every day, every week, can indicatethe amount or impact of the poster has in the social media stream. Thisfrequency may be derived from two or more postings made by thatparticular social media poster. This information may be found in thesocial media metadata 1720, or extracted therefrom, by determining acalculation of frequency based on dates of postings made by that poster.

The presenter module 1520 may also access social media metadata 1720 todetermine the viewership, in step 2720, for a poster determined in step2708. Viewership may be the number of subscribers, the number of likes,the number of friends, or other information about the poster. Thisinformation may be stored in the social media metadata 1720, by theretrieve module 1516. The viewership may provide for how important thesocial media poster is on that particular social media site. Ondetermining these and possibly other criteria or information about thesocial media, the presenter module 1520 can organize a view of thesocial media data based on these determinations, in step 2724. Thus, thepresenter module 1520 may rank or organize the view of the social mediadata based on viewership, relationship, or other information thatdetermines the importance of the poster in the general social mediaenvironment and how important that poster is to the current user of theIntelligent TV 100.

The presenter module 1520 may then change the view of the social mediauser interface 2500 based on the determinations and organizationcompleted in step 2724, in step 2728. For example, the social media pile2212 shown in FIG. 22 may have two or more thumbnails that are organizedor presented based on the determinations in method 2700. For example,thumbnail 2220 may be bigger than thumbnail 2224 to indicate the numberof, or frequency of, postings made by that poster associated with thatthumbnail. Thus, each thumbnail may represent a poster in a social mediastream. The size of the thumbnails may indicate the importance of thatposter on that social media stream.

Further, the positioning of the thumbnails may indicate some relation tothe user. For example, thumbnail 2228 is positioned at the bottom andperiphery of the pile 2212. In contrast, thumbnail 2232 is presented atthe apex of the pile 2212 in the center. Thus, the poster 2232 may be acloser relation or more important to the current Intelligent TV userthan the poster represented by thumbnail 2228. The views, and thus thepile 2212, may be changed based on dynamic settings determined by thepresenter module 1520. The pile 2212 then allows the user to visuallyand semantically determine the importance of the social media beingoffered on user interface 2200.

A method 2800 for providing a visual interface for accessing socialmedia associated with content is provided in FIG. 28A. While a generalorder for the steps of the method 2800 is shown in FIG. 28A. Generally,the method 2800 starts with a start operation 2804 and ends with an endoperation 2832. The method 2800 can include more or fewer steps or canarrange the order of the steps differently than those shown in FIG. 28A.The method 2800 can be executed as a set of computer-executableinstructions, executed by a computer system, and encoded or stored on acomputer readable medium. Further, the method 2800 can be executed by agate or other hardware device or component in an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array, or other type ofhardware device. Hereinafter, the method 2800 shall be explained withreference to the systems, components, modules, software, datastructures, user interfaces, etc. described herein.

A Intelligent TV 100 may receive a selection for programming, in step2808. The selection, and the reception thereof, may be similar to step2108 described in conjunction with FIG. 21. The presenter module 1520can determine the type of selection, in step 2812. The selection may bea type of user interface that is going to be watched. The presentermodule 1520 can determine the type of social media indication thatshould be provided for that user based on that selection. The selectionscan include a content view, a view for changing channels, a view forplaying media, a view for watching sports, or some other selection.

Upon determining the type of selection, the presenter module 1520 maydetermine the availability of social media, in step 2816. Here, eachpiece of social media may have some relation to a piece of content.Thus, based either on the data within the social media, as accessed infield 1724, or based on associations deduced by information in thesocial media metadata 1720, the presenter module 1520 can determinewhether the social media posting is related to the content, and thus,available to be presented in the user interface. This determination canbe based on whether the user or poster is also registered as watchingthat content on another TV in another location, whether the postingitself was directed to that content, or some other information.

Based on the determinations in step 2816, the presenter module 1520 canprovide a user interface having social media, in step 2820. For example,the presenter module 1520 can present the user interface 2900, shown inFIG. 29. Here, the user may be watching a movie in a player or on achannel. The movie may have associated social media content presented ina pile view 2904. Further, there may be more information about who iswatching, or currently registered as watching, that program, as providedin text 2908. If the user is watching a different channel, such as userinterface 3000, shown in FIG. 30, the social media pile 3004 may includemore social media as evidenced by the fact that there are more friendswatching that program, as listed in the text 3008. Thus, the socialmedia pile 3004 may be larger in one view as compared to another 2904based on the availability of social media, as determined in step 2816.In this way, the presenter module 1520 can change the view or provide adifferent view for social media content for the Intelligent TV 100.

In another view, the social media may be presented in a new area; asshown in user interface 3100, the social media pile 3104 is presented ina banner 3108. Further, the text 3112 is also provided in the banner3108. In this way, the social media content may be accessed if the userbrings up the banner but does obstruct the view of the content. Thisuser interface may be a setting or an indication for a user and may beprovided based on the type of selections determined in step 2812.

The Intelligent TV 10 may also provide social media indications in amedia player user interface 3200, as shown in FIG. 32. Here, thepresenter module 1520 may present the social media pile 3204 in abanner, but not provide the text (similar to text 3112, shown in FIG.31). Thus, the presenter module 1520 may change the type of presentationof the social media data or indication of social media data based onuser preference and the type of user interface selected by the user.

Another type of social media presentation may be associated with asporting event that is described in conjunction with FIG. 28B. While ageneral order for the steps of the method 2836 is shown in FIG. 28B.Generally, the method 2836 starts with a start operation 1904 and endswith an end operation 1956. The method 2836 can include more or fewersteps or can arrange the order of the steps differently than those shownin FIG. 28B. The method 2836 can be executed as a set ofcomputer-executable instructions, executed by a computer system, andencoded or stored on a computer readable medium. Further, the method2836 can be executed by a gate or other hardware device or component inan Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a Field Programmable GateArray, or other type of hardware device. Hereinafter, the method 2836shall be explained with reference to the systems, components, modules,software, data structures, user interfaces, etc. described herein.

Method 2836 can provide for a special display for sporting events, asshown in FIG. 33. The presenter module 1520 may access informationprovided by the EPG data or other information to determine the type ofsport being watched on the channel, in step 2844. This sport and theparticipants may be determined by the presenter module 1520. Upondetermining the sport, in step 2844, the presenter module 1520 mayaccess social media data 1704 to determine rooting associations ofposters within the social media metadata, in step 2848. The rootingassociation can be an affiliation of the poster or social media userwith a certain team. For example, as shown in FIG. 33, social mediausers represented by thumbnails 3304 may be associated with the soccerteam “Arsenal.” Likewise, users represented by thumbnails 3308 may beassociated with the soccer team “Chelsea.” These relationships may beindicated by favorites or other indications provided by the social mediausers in the social media sites or streams. This information may bededuced by the presenter module 1520 or provided by the retrieve module1516.

Upon determining the rooting associations, the presenter module 1520 canprovide a user interface with rooting sections on the user interfacesshown in user interface 3300 in FIG. 33, in step 2852. Here, thethumbnails are organized on two sides of the screen 3300. Thisorganization allows for the different posters to be partitioned ordesignated as associated with certain teams. Further, the user interface3300 can provide one or more indications, such as a name or teaminformation or logos or trademarks 3316 and 3320, to indicate whichteams the two rooting sections are associated therewith. Theorganization of the rooting sections may also be associated with thescore indication 3312 presented in the user interface. Further, therooting sections may be logically associated based on who's the hometeam or the away team. Those different associations or rooting sectionlocations may change based on the culture of the certain sport. Forexample, European soccer may indicate the home team on the left side ofthe screen, while, if watching a basketball game from the NationalBasketball Association, the rooting section home team may be on theright side. Thus, this unique user interface 3300 provides for adifferent type of social media indication than those user interfacesprovided previously.

An embodiment of a method 3400 for providing time sequenced social mediatags is a media player is shown in FIG. 34. While a general order forthe steps of the method 3400 is shown in FIG. 34. Generally, the method3400 starts with a start operation 3404 and ends with an end operation3436. The method 3400 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange theorder of the steps differently than those shown in FIG. 34. The method3400 can be executed as a set of computer-executable instructions,executed by a computer system, and encoded or stored on a computerreadable medium. Further, the method 3400 can be executed by a gate orother hardware device or component in an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardwaredevice. Hereinafter, the method 3400 shall be explained with referenceto the systems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

And, Intelligent TV 100 may receive a selection on device 3504 to play amedia player, in step 3408. The selection to play the media player mayfollow a similar process as to step 2108 described in conjunction withFIG. 21. The Intelligent Television 100 may then provide a userinterface 3500 to play the media, as shown in FIG. 35. The media maycontinue to play until the user makes another selection. For example,the user may select user interface device 3504 to pause the contentshown in user interface 3500. The Intelligent Television 100 may receivethe selection of the pause button, in step 3412. The selection of pausein the media player may follow similar processes as that described inFIG. 21.

Upon receiving the selection, the user interface may be changedaccording to the silo manager 532 and/or panel manager 536, as shown inFIG. 36. The transition may show the shrinking of the content window3604. Thus, the shrinking may indicate that the content is now pausedand may now give a timeline view of frames within the content that areprovided and recorded while the content is paused. Once the content ispaused, the presenter module 1520 may receive a signal to begin torecord social media tags in the time sequence of the paused material, instep 3416. The presenter module 1520 can determine and record whensocial media tags or postings provided in data 1700 were received inrelation to a frame or time of the program.

Thereinafter, the Intelligent TV 100 may receive a selection to view thetimeline view for the media, in step 3420. The Intelligent Television100 may present a user interface 3700 according to the silo manager 532and/or panel manager 536, as shown in FIG. 37. This timeline view caninclude social media tags 3712, 3716, provided by the presenter module1520. Thus, the timeline view 3700 may show a series of frames 3704 orsuper frames of the content in user interface 3700. Social media tagsassociated with those frames, as stored in step 3416, may be shown.Thus, for frame 3704, social media tags 3712 and 3716 indicate thatsocial media was received during this scene represented by frame 3704.The positioning of the social media tags may indicate when those tagswere received. For example, tag 3712 may be received at the beginning ofthe scene, while tag 3716 was received at the end of the scene. Theplacement determination may be made based on the midpoint of the frameor scene represented by frame 3704.

The user may select to see the social media tags by selecting userinterface device 3708. In other instances, the social media tags may bepresented automatically based on a user's preferences. Thus, thepresenter module 1520 can provide a timeline user interface withsequence social media tags, in step 3424. The sequence may be based onthe time that the social media was received or based on association withthe frame or super frame for when the social media was received. Thus,the social media tags 3712, 3716 may be organized differently in userinterface 3700 based on how the presenter module 1520 is configured tostore the social media tags.

The presenter module 1520 may receive a selection of a social media tag,in step 3428. For example, the presenter module 1520 may present a userinterface 3800 with a timeline view of the media, as shown in FIG. 38.The presenter module 1520 may then receive indication that the userselected user interface device 3804 to display social media tag 3808that is associated with the particular frame 3812 of the content. Inother examples, the social media tags 3808 are already displayed withthe frame of video 3812. The user may then select user interface device3804 to present the information or social media posting associated withone of the social media tags.

As shown in FIG. 39, user interface 3900 shows that one of the socialmedia tags 3904 has been expanded to provide the actual contentassociated with the social media. This expansion may be done byselecting user interface device 3908, or by selecting the actual socialmedia tag 3904. Thus, the user can view the social media associated withthe content while the content is paused and is previewing the frames inthe timeline view.

In other scenarios, the user may select the user interface device 4004shown in user interface 4000 of FIG. 40. Here, the user interface device4004 may allow the user to expand all social media tags 4808 associatedwith that frame 4012. Thus, the presenter module 1520 can expand theinformation within the social media tag, in step 3432. The expansionallows the user better ability to read the social media associated withthe scene, determine where the user may want to resume watching thecontent, or allow the user to skip around in the content once paused.

A method 4100 for changing the amount of social media viewed or changingthe “social media volume” is shown in FIG. 41. While a general order forthe steps of the method 4100 is shown in FIG. 41. Generally, the method4100 starts with a start operation 4104 and ends with an end operation4152. The method 4100 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange theorder of the steps differently than those shown in FIG. 41. The method4100 can be executed as a set of computer-executable instructions,executed by a computer system, and encoded or stored on a computerreadable medium. Further, the method 4100 can be executed by a gate orother hardware device or component in an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardwaredevice. Hereinafter, the method 4100 shall be explained with referenceto the systems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

Here, the user may select a remote control button 1000, which controlsthe social media volume. A change or selection of the button 1000 maysend a signal to the Intelligent TV 100 to change the amount of socialmedia being presented in a user interface or the amount of social mediabeing posted on behalf of the user. The Intelligent Television 100 canreceive the selection to present social media in a process similar tostep 2108 described in FIG. 21. The selection may be provided to thepresenter module 1520/publisher module 1524 to change the publication orpresentation of social media.

The presenter module 1520 may then present social media, in step 4112.For example, before selecting the social volume button 1000, theIntelligent TV 100 may present a user interface 4200, as shown in FIG.42. Here, there is no social media information being presented in theuser interface 4200. Upon selecting to show social media, the presentermodule 1520 may begin to present the user interface 4300, as shown inFIG. 43. Here, a rooting section 4304, 4308, is presented with thecontent in user interface 4300. This user interface 4300 may include thelowest amount of social media presented in any type of user interface.

The presenter module 1520 and/or publish module 1524 may then receive aselection to change the volume of social media, in step 4116. Here, theuser may increase or decrease the social media volume by selectingeither the up or down sections of remote control button 1000. Thisselection provides an indication to presenter module 1520 and/or publishmodule 1524 the user wants to see or publish more or less social media.The publish module 1524 and presenter module 1520 may then determine ifthe selection to change the social media volume is associated with theinbound social media, the outbound social media, or both the inbound andoutbound social media, in step 4120. Thus, the user may change not onlyhow much social media is being viewed in the user interface but may alsochange the amount of data that is being posted to sites by the userbased on selections described hereinafter.

The presenter module 1520 and/or publish module 1524 may then determinethe type of input that is received by the selection of the social mediavolume, in step 4124. The types of inputs may be an increase, adecrease, or a mute of the social media. If the user selects to increasethe social media volume, method 4100 flows through the INCREASE branchto step 4128. If the user desires to decrease the social media volume,the method 4100 flows through the DECREASE branch to step 4136. If theuser desires to mute the social media, method 4100 proceeds through theMUTE branch to step 4144.

In step 4128, the presenter module 1520 and/or publish module 1524, maydetermine if the amount of increase is possible because the social mediavolume is at a top level. If the social media volume is at the highestlevel, the method flows YES to step 4148, where no change is made in howthe social media is either presented or published.

If the social media is not at a top level, the method flows NO to step4132. In step 4132, the presenter module 1520 and/or publish module 1524either presents or publishes more social media content. The presentationof more social media is shown in a series of figures, FIG. 43 throughFIG. 46. For example, in FIG. 43, user interface 4300 includes rootingsections 4308 and 4304. However, there is no indication of any of thecontent in the social media streams but requires the user to select oneof the thumbnails provided in the rooting sections 4304, 4308. At thenext social media volume, for example social media volume 2, at leastone social media posting 4408, 4404 is provided in each rooting section,as seen in FIG. 44. The rooting sections 4304 and 4308 remain unchanged.Thus, the most recent comment by a poster or the most relevant commentby a poster is presented in the next volume of social media. This changeis shown in user interface 4400 in FIG. 44.

At a next social volume, shown in FIG. 45, there may be more than oneposting, for example, posting 4408 and 4504 in one of the rootingsections. Thus, the user may increase the number of postings shown in atleast one or more of the rooting sections of user interface 4500. InFIG. 46, the maximum amount of social volume may be shown. Here, in userinterface 4600, there may be several postings provided in sections 4604and 4608. The user can see a series of recent postings going back intime from most recent to least recent posting. These postings may alsoinclude other information from other sites, may also provide for otherinformation not necessarily related to the current content being viewed.The user can determine the amount of social media to be presented at anyone time during a content viewing session.

In step 4136, the presenter module 1520 can determine if the socialmedia is at a lowest level of presentation or publication. If thepresenter module 1520 and/or publish module 1524 determine that theamount of social media is at a lowest level, method 4100 proceeds YES tostep 4144. If the presenter module 1520 and/or publish module 1524determine that the social media is not at the lowest level, the method4100 proceeds NO to step 4140.

In step 4140, the presenter module 1520 and/or publish module 1524 maypresent or publish less social media information. This change is moreeasily seen with the presentation of social media as shown in FIGS. 43through 46. Here, the presentation of user interfaces may proceed fromuser interface 4600, in FIG. 46, back to user interface 4300 in FIG. 43as the social media volume is decreased. For the decrease inpublication, publish module 1524 may publish to fewer sites or publishfewer postings or less information from the user if the social mediavolume is decreased.

In step 4144, the social media may be muted either by selection of acertain button or the eventual decrease of the social media volume tonone or level zero. In this case, the presenter module 1520 and/orpublish module 1524 may not present any social media information or maynot publish any social media information. For example, the userinterface 4700 in FIG. 47 may be presented that shows us no social mediainformation. Thus, the social media is muted at this point.

A method 4800 for consolidating media from social media sites and localmedia sources is shown in FIG. 48. While a general order for the stepsof the method 4800 is shown in FIG. 48. Generally, the method 4800starts with a start operation 4804 and ends with an end operation 4844.The method 4800 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the orderof the steps differently than those shown in FIG. 48. The method 4800can be executed as a set of computer-executable instructions, executedby a computer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readablemedium. Further, the method 4800 can be executed by a gate or otherhardware device or component in an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardwaredevice. Hereinafter, the method 4800 shall be explained with referenceto the systems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

The Intelligent Television 100 may receive a selection to view media, instep 4808. The selection to view media may proceed through a processsimilar to step 2108 described in FIG. 21. Upon receiving the selectionto view media, the presenter module 1520 may determine what media isavailable from social media sources, in step 4812. Here, these presentermodule 1520 may access data 1704 to determine what inbound media isavailable in database 1700. Further, the presenter module 1520 may senda signal to the retrieve module 1516 to access different social mediasites and determine if social media is available and to retrieve thatsocial media if possible.

The retrieve module 1516 may retrieve social media from the social mediasites, in step 4816. Here, the social media database 1700 may not bepopulated except when requested by the user. This prevents the abundantstorage of media presented in social media sites. The retrieve module1516 may then go to social media site to retrieve media of the desiredtype selected by the user. For example, if the user desires to look atpictures or videos, the retrieve module 1516 can go and retrievepictures or videos associated with the user from social media sites.

The data service 432 may also be sent a signal to retrieve local media,in step 4820. Thus the data service may instantiate an instance of themedia subservice 628 to access database 640 to retrieve media. This data640 is local to either the Intelligent Television 100 or to a localnetwork connected to by the Intelligent Television 100. This media mayalso be accessed and provided to the user interface application 468.

The user interface application 468 may then present a user interfacethat includes both local media and media retrieved from social mediasites, in step 4824. For example, user interface application 468 maypresent user interface 4900 shown in FIG. 49. Here, thumbnailsrepresenting categories of media are presented. These categories ofmedia may be associated with local media or media from social mediasites. For example, thumbnail 4908 is associated with media from a localsite, and the category includes only local media. Thumbnail 4904 may beassociated with social tagged media that either includes or isexclusively media from a social media site. Indication 4912 may indicatewhether the content within that category encompasses or contains mediafrom a social media site. Further, the indication 4912 can indicate whatsocial media site the social media data comes from. For example,indication 4912 is a Facebook™ indicator, thus, notifying the user thatthe travel category includes content from the Facebook™ social mediasite.

Thereinafter, the user interface application 468 can receive a selectionof media, in step 4828. For example, the user may select thumbnail 4916in user interface 4900. The selection may be received by the userinterface application in which case user interface application 468provides user interface 5000 shown in FIG. 50. The media album 5000 mayindicate whether the social media is local or from a social media site.For example, thumbnails 5004 provide an indication 5008 that the mediawithin that category includes social media site information. Incontrast, thumbnail set 5012 does not include the indication, andtherefore, includes only local media.

The user may select a category of media from user interface 5000 and, inresponse, may be presented with another user interface. For example, ifthe user selects thumbnail set 5016, user interface application 468 canpresent user interface 5100 shown in FIG. 51. Here, the mediaapplication shows several photographs, which are stored in category“Kira's Birthday Party” as indicated by the banner 5104. Further,indication 5108, in the banner 5104, indicates that the media withinuser interface 5100 was at least partially obtained from a social mediasite. If the user selects one of the thumbnails, for example, thumbnail5112, user interface application 468 can determine if the social mediais from a social media site, in step 4832. If the media is from a socialmedia site, the method 4800 proceeds YES to step 4836. If the media isnot from a social media site, the method 4800 proceeds NO to step 4840.

In step 4836, the user interface application 468 can indicate to thepresenter module 1520 to provide data for an edge user interface 5208shown in FIG. 52. Here, the user interface 5200 includes the thumbnail5204. The thumbnail 5204 is selected, and the media is from a socialmedia site. The presenter module 1520, therefore, obtains dataassociated with that media on the social media site. The edge userinterface 5208 includes not only the media 5204, but one or more socialmedia postings 5212 that are associated with that media. Thus, the usercan view not only the media 5204 but any information on that socialmedia site that may be associated with the media. The user application4608 may then present the media 5204, in step 4840. If the media is notfrom a social media site, the user application 468 may present only themedia without any edge user interface describing the media. Thus, themedia may be presented in a full screen view, or some other view.

Further, when media is selected, the user interface application 468 maysend a signal to a second device to show the media. For example, in FIG.53, the user may select a thumbnail 5304 in user interface 5300. Uponselecting the thumbnail 5304, the processor 3604 can instruct a wirelessconnectivity module 328 to send information to another device 168 f todisplay the media. The information sent by the wireless connectivitymodule 328 may include the media data so that the second device 5308 canshow the media in a user interface 5312.

An embodiment of the method 5400 for presenting social media informationin a user interface by controlling a joystick associated with a remotecontrol is shown in FIG. 54. While a general order for the steps of themethod 5400 is shown in FIG. 54. Generally, the method 5400 starts witha start operation 5404 and ends with an end operation 5424. The method5400 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the order of thesteps differently than those shown in FIG. 54. The method 5400 can beexecuted as a set of computer-executable instructions, executed by acomputer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium.Further, the method 5400 can be executed by a gate or other hardwaredevice or component in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, aField Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardware device.Hereinafter, the method 5400 shall be explained with reference to thesystems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

The user may make a selection with a joystick 900 of a remote control704, in step 5408. The joystick control 900 is described in conjunctionwith FIG. 9 a through 9 c. Here, there may be a joystick input intojoystick 900. This joystick selection may be presented or providedsimilar to step 2108 in FIG. 21. A presenter module 1520, and the userinterface application 468, may determine the type of joystick input, instep 5412. For example, the user may move the joystick up, as shown inFIG. 9 b, or move the joystick 900 down, as shown in FIG. 9 c. If theuser moves the joystick up, the input is a peak up command and themethod 5400 flows through the PEAK UP branch to step 5416. If the movermoves the joystick down, the user interface application 468 determinesthe selection is a peak down command, and the method 5400 flows throughthe PEAK DOWN branch to step 5420.

In step 5416, the presenter module 1520 can present social media in auser interface after a peak up command. For example, as shown in userinterface 5500 of FIG. 55, the neutral user interface 5500 presents noinformation. If the user moves the joystick into the peak up position,as shown in FIG. 9 b, the presenter module 1520 can present userinterface 5600 shown in FIG. 56. Here, a footer 5604 is presented at thebottom of the user interface 5600. The footer 5604 includes social mediainputs 5608 associated with the content shown in the user interface5600. The social media postings in the footer 5604 may be listed inchronological order from left to right.

In step 5420, the user moves the joystick in a peak down command shownin FIG. 9 c. Here, user interface 5700 shown in FIG. 57 is presented.The user interface application 468 provides a banner 5704 includinginformation about the content. However, there is no social mediainformation in banner 5704. The user may be presented with an ooh-aahdevice 5708 to automatically post social media about the content shownin user interface 5700. The ooh-aah button is described hereinafter.Thus, the joystick control could control the access to social mediaabout the content in a unique user interface as shown in FIG. 56. If thejoystick is moved back to a neutral position by moving it up or down,the user interfaces 5600 and/or 5700 are hidden.

An embodiment of a method 5800 for posting social media with a seconddevice is described in FIG. 58. While a general order for the steps ofthe method 5800 is shown in FIG. 58. Generally, the method 5800 startswith a start operation 5804 and ends with an end operation 5852. Themethod 5800 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the order ofthe steps differently than those shown in FIG. 58. The method 5800 canbe executed as a set of computer-executable instructions, executed by acomputer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium.Further, the method 5800 can be executed by a gate or other hardwaredevice or component in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, aField Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardware device.Hereinafter, the method 5800 shall be explained with reference to thesystems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

The Intelligent TV 100 can connect to a network, in step 5808. Forexample, the processor 364 can instruct a wireless connectivity module328 to send necessary information, commands, or data to a network 132. Auser can obtain, or the processor 364 can obtain, any kind ofinformation to connect to the network 132, including an ID or otherkinds of credentials. The connection to the network 132 can happen inthe background. A device 168 e may then connect to the same network 132,in step 5812. Any of the connections to the network 132 can be madethrough known methods. Upon connecting to the network 132, theIntelligent TV 100 may discover the device 168 e, in step 5816. Here,the processor 364 may receive signals from the wireless connectivitymodule 328 when a new device is put on the network 132. The device 168 ecan be discovered through known methods and provide an indication to theprocessor of the newly-discovered device 168 e.

Upon discovering the device 168 e, the processor 364 can send an objectthrough the wireless connectivity module 328 to the device 168 e tobegin an interaction, in step 5820. For example, the Intelligent TV 100may present a user interface 5900 in FIG. 59. The user interface mayinclude social media rooting sections 5904 and 5908. In other examples,there may be other types of social media provided in user interface5900. A device 6004 shown in FIG. 60 may then connect to the network132. The device 6004 may then send a signal to a network 132 whilepresenting user interface 6104 shown in FIG. 61. The television maydiscover the device 6004 and send an object to begin an interaction.This object 6204 may be a banner or some other user selectable device asshown in user interface 6104 of the device 6004.

FIG. 62 shows a larger view of the object 6208 provided in userinterface 6204. The object 6208 can optionally display the media statusof the TV, in step 5824. For example, object 6204 indicates that theuser is watching a soccer game, “Chelsea vs. Arsenal.” on theIntelligent Television 100. The display of media status may be optional,as the user may be able to select device 6208 without a preview of thestatus of the Intelligent Television 100. The user may then selectdevice 6208 to connect the device 6004 with the Television 100, in step5828.

Upon selecting user interface device 6208, the device 6004 may thenpresent a user interface 6304, which allows the user to comment aboutthe content, by selecting device 6308 shown in FIG. 63. The user canthen select device 6308. The user then may enter a message 6404, shownin FIG. 64. The user can type in the message and may then select adevice 6504, shown in FIG. 65. The device 6504 posts the message andpushes that message from the mobile device 6004 to social media sites,in step 5832.

The posting may also be relayed to the TV, in step 5836. The processor364 can receive the message and send the message to the publisher 1524.The message may be displayed on the device 6004, in user interface 6608,shown in FIG. 66. Further, the presenter module 1520 can present themessage, or display the message, on the user interface 6600 of theIntelligent Television 100, as shown in FIG. 66. For example, message6604 is now presented in the rooting section of user interface 6600. Thedevice 6004 also displays the message 6608, in step 5844.

The message may then be posted to a social media site, in step 5848.Thus, the message may be forwarded by the publish module 1524 to anotherdevice 6704, connected to the local network 124, as shown in FIG. 67.The message 6708 may also appear on the other device 6704 after postingthe message on the first device 6004. Further, the publish module 1524can publish the message to a social media site, as shown in FIG. 68. Forexample, the Facebook™ page 6804, associated with the user, shows themessages posted to the game, including the user's message, in section6808. Thus, the Intelligent Television 100 can work with externaldevices to publish efficiently and effectively messages to social mediasites, which produces an easily interactive system for the IntelligentTelevision 100.

An embodiment of a method 6900 for one-click publishing of social mediacontent through the Intelligent Television 100 is shown in FIG. 69.While a general order for the steps of the method 6900 is shown in FIG.69. Generally, the method 6900 starts with a start operation 6904 andends with an end operation 6920. The method 6900 can include more orfewer steps or can arrange the order of the steps differently than thoseshown in FIG. 69. The method 6900 can be executed as a set ofcomputer-executable instructions, executed by a computer system, andencoded or stored on a computer readable medium. Further, the method6900 can be executed by a gate or other hardware device or component inan Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a Field Programmable GateArray, or other type of hardware device. Hereinafter, the method 6900shall be explained with reference to the systems, components, modules,software, data structures, user interfaces, etc. described herein.

Here, the user may have use of a remote control 1800. The remote control1800 may include an ooh-aah button 1804. The ooh-aah button 1804 may bea one-click social media posting selection. Thus, if the user selectsbutton 1804, the remote control 1800 sends a signal to the IntelligentTelevision 100 through a process similar to step 2108 of FIG. 21. TheIntelligent Television 100 can receive the selection of the ooh-aahbutton 1804, in step 6908. As discussed previously herein, the processor364 can send the signal associated with the selection of the ooh-aahbutton 1804 to the publish module 1524 to indicate that media or contentcurrently being viewed on the Intelligent Television 100 should beposted or published to a social media site.

The publish module 1524 may then determine the status of media orcontent on the Intelligent Television 100, in step 6912. Thus, thepublish module 1524 can determine if there is a focus or selection ofmedia or content currently in the user interface of the IntelligentTelevision 100. The selection of media may then indicate that the userdesires to publish the selected media to one or more social media sites1404 associated with the user. In other embodiments, the user may selectanother posting from a different user or may enter a comment into a userinterface on the Intelligent Television 100. Upon selecting that commentand pushing the ooh-aah button 1804, the user can indicate a desire topublish that posting, comment, or media to a social media site.

The publish module 1524 may then push the media or selection to at leastone social media site based on a pre-established process, in step 6916.Thus, the publish module 1524 may then access information in database1600. This information may include any indication of social mediaaccounts 1624 that are associated with the user. These social mediasites 1404 may also include a social media ID 1628 and social mediapassword 1632. Further, any kind of information about the user, and howthe user desires to have information published, may be stored in datastructure 1604. These predetermined processes may indicate, when theooh-aah button 1804 is selected, what, to how many, or how the publishmodule 1524 should post to social media sites 1404. The access module1512 may gain access to the social media sites 1404 for the publishmodule 1524.

Upon accessing the social media sites 1404, the publish module 1524 maycopy the media posting, comment, and/or other information indicated bythe user and automatically send that information to the social mediasite. The publish module 1524 can act as a proxy for the user to postthat information to the social media site. Thus, the publish module 1524may store or access methods known by the user to conduct the process ofpublishing the information. During the process, the publish module 1524can copy the selected information to the correct user interface, selecta current user interface device on the social media site(s) to publishthe social media information, etc. These predetermined processes may belearned from past postings or may be taught and then automated by thepublish module 1524. The publish module 1524 may give an indication tothe user that the information that was selected by the user waspublished to social media sites 1404. In this way, the publish module1524 provides a one-click method for the user to post information tosocial media sites 1404.

The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been describedin relation to an Intelligent Television. However, to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the precedingdescription omits a number of known structures and devices. Thisomission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scopes of theclaims. Specific details are set forth to provide an understanding ofthe present disclosure. It should however be appreciated that thepresent disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond thespecific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations illustrated herein show the various components of thesystem collocated, certain components of the system can be locatedremotely, at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a LANand/or the Internet, or within a dedicated system. Thus, it should beappreciated, that the components of the system can be combined in to oneor more devices, or collocated on a particular node of a distributednetwork, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunications network, apacket-switch network, or a circuit-switched network. It will beappreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, that the components of the system can bearranged at any location within a distributed network of componentswithout affecting the operation of the system. For example, the variouscomponents can be located in a switch such as a PBX and media server,gateway, in one or more communications devices, at one or more users'premises, or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more functionalportions of the system could be distributed between a telecommunicationsdevice(s) and an associated computing device.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, and maytake the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated duringradio-wave and infra-red data communications.

Also, while the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated inrelation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciatedthat changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occurwithout materially affecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments,configuration, and aspects.

In another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosure can beimplemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, a programmedmicroprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuitelement(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discreteelement circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array such as PLD,PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means, or thelike. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementing themethodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thedisclosed embodiments, configurations and aspects includes computers,handheld devices, telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital,analog, hybrids, and others), and other hardware known in the art. Someof these devices include processors (e.g., a single or multiplemicroprocessors), memory, nonvolatile storage, input devices, and outputdevices. Furthermore, alternative software implementations including,but not limited to, distributed processing or component/objectdistributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machineprocessing can also be constructed to implement the methods describedherein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as anapplet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations withreference to particular standards and protocols, the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations are not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious aspects, embodiments, configurations embodiments,subcombinations, and/or subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art willunderstand how to make and use the disclosed aspects, embodiments,and/or configurations after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes providing devices and processes in the absenceof items not depicted and/or described herein or in various aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations hereof, including in the absence ofsuch items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g.,for improving performance, achieving ease and\or reducing cost ofimplementation.

The foregoing discussion has been presented for purposes of illustrationand description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the disclosureto the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing DetailedDescription for example, various features of the disclosure are groupedtogether in one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations forthe purpose of streamlining the disclosure. The features of the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure may be combined inalternate aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations other than thosediscussed above. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claims require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a singleforegoing disclosed aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. Thus, thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodimentof the disclosure.

Moreover, though the description has included description of one or moreaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations and certain variations andmodifications, other variations, combinations, and modifications arewithin the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as may be within the skill andknowledge of those in the art, after understanding the presentdisclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternativeaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations to the extent permitted,including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures,functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not suchalternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing an indication of a linkageto a poster of social media, the method comprising: receiving, by aprocessor of an intelligent television, two or more social mediapostings; providing a visual representation of the social mediapostings; in the visual representation, providing a first visual indiciafor a first posting and a second visual indicia for a second posting;and wherein the first and second visual indicia are different andindicate the linkage between a first poster of the first posting or asecond poster of the second posting.
 2. An intelligent television systemcomprising: a memory operable to store social media data; a processor incommunication with the memory, the processor operable to: execute asocial media application operable to receive two or more social mediapostings; execute a user interface application in communication with thesocial media application, the user interface application operable to:provide a visual representation of the social media postings; in thevisual representation, provide a first visual indicia for a firstposting and a second visual indicia for a second posting; and whereinthe first and second visual indicia are different and indicate thelinkage between a first poster of the first posting or a second posterof the second posting.
 3. A method for providing a rooting section foran intelligent television, the method comprising: receiving, by aprocessor of an intelligent television, two or more social mediapostings; receiving a selection for sporting content on the intelligenttelevision; based on the selection, providing a first visualrepresentation of one or more of the social media postings associatedwith a first team affiliation; and providing a second visualrepresentation of one or more of the social media postings associatedwith a second team affiliation.
 4. An intelligent television systemcomprising: a memory operable to store social media data; a processor incommunication with the memory, the processor operable to: execute asocial media application operable to receive two or more social mediapostings; execute a user interface application in communication with thesocial media application, the user interface application operable to:receive a selection for sporting content on the intelligent television;based on the selection, provide a first visual representation of one ormore of the social media postings associated with a first teamaffiliation; and provide a second visual representation of one or moreof the social media postings associated with a second team affiliation.5. A method for providing social media on an intelligent television, themethod comprising: identifying a user of the intelligent television;register user with one or more social media sites; and providing socialmedia posting associated with the user on an user interface of theintelligent television.
 6. An intelligent television system comprising:a memory operable to store social media data; a processor incommunication with the memory, the processor operable to: execute asocial media application operable to: identify a user of the intelligenttelevision; register user with one or more social media sites; retrieveone or more social media postings from the one or more social mediasites; and execute a user interface application in communication withthe social media application, the user interface application operable toprovide social media posting associated with the user on an userinterface of the intelligent television.
 7. A method for providingsocial media information on an intelligent television, the methodcomprising: receiving, by a processor of an intelligent television, aselection of programming for the intelligent television; determining theavailability of social media for the selected programming; receiving oneor more social media postings; and providing a visual representation ofone or more of the social media postings associated with selectedprogramming.
 8. An intelligent television system comprising: a memoryoperable to store social media data; a processor in communication withthe memory, the processor operable to: execute a social mediaapplication operable to: determine the availability of social media forselected programming; receive one or more social media postings; executea user interface application in communication with the social mediaapplication, the user interface application operable to: receive, by aprocessor of an intelligent television, a selection of programming forthe intelligent television; and provide a visual representation of oneor more of the social media postings associated with selectedprogramming.
 9. A method for providing social media information on anintelligent television, the method comprising: receiving, by a processorof an intelligent television, a first selection to present social media;receiving one or more social media postings; presenting at least one ofthe one or more social media postings; receiving a second selection tochange a volume of social media; and in response to the secondselection, changing an amount of social media presented.
 10. Anintelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:receive a first selection to present social media; receive one or moresocial media postings; execute a user interface application incommunication with the social media application, the user interfaceapplication operable to: present at least one of the one or more socialmedia postings; receive a second selection to change a volume of socialmedia; and in response to the second selection, change an amount ofsocial media presented.
 11. A method for providing social mediainformation on an intelligent television, the method comprising:connecting, by a processor of an intelligent television, the intelligenttelevision to a network; the intelligent television discovering a devicealso connected to the network; connecting the device to the intelligenttelevision; a user pushes a social media message from the device; anddisplaying the social media message on the intelligent television. 12.An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: connect the intelligent television to a network;discover a device also connected to the network; connect the device tothe intelligent television; execute a social media application operableto receive a social media message pushed by the user from the device;and execute a user interface application in communication with thesocial media application, the user interface application operable todisplay the social media message on the intelligent television.
 13. Amethod for providing media on an intelligent television, the methodcomprising: receiving, by a processor of an intelligent television, aselection to view media; retrieving available media from one or moresocial media sources; retrieving available media from one or more localsources; and presenting together media from both one or more socialmedia sources and one or more local sources.
 14. An intelligenttelevision system comprising: a memory operable to store social mediadata; a processor in communication with the memory, the processoroperable to: execute a media subservice operable to: receive a selectionto view media; retrieve available media from one or more social mediasources; retrieve available media from one or more local sources; andexecute a user interface application in communication with the mediasubservice, the user interface application operable to present togethermedia from both one or more social media sources and one or more localsources, wherein the media is one of a picture file, a video file, or amusic file.
 15. A method for providing social media on an intelligenttelevision, the method comprising: receiving one or more social mediapostings; receiving, by a processor of an intelligent television, aprogramming change input; determining the type of programming changinginput; and based on the determination, providing one of two or more userinterfaces that include a presentation of social media information. 16.An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:receive one or more social media postings; execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to: receive a programming change input;determine the type of programming changing input; and based on thedetermination, provide one of two or more user interfaces that include apresentation of social media information.
 17. A method for providingsocial media on an intelligent television, the method comprising:receiving, by a processor of an intelligent television, a selection toplay media, wherein the media is video content presented in real-time;receiving a pause selection for the media; pausing the media playback onthe intelligent television while the media continues to be presented inreal-time; during the pause, receiving one or more social media postingsassociated with the media; and storing the one or more social mediapostings in a time sequence correlated to the media presentation.
 18. Anintelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a user interface application operable to:receive a selection to play media, wherein the media is video contentpresented in real-time; receive a pause selection for the media; pausethe media playback on the intelligent television while the mediacontinues to be presented in real-time; execute a social mediaapplication in communication with the user interface application, thesocial media application operable to: during the pause, receive one ormore social media postings associated with the media; and store the oneor more social media postings in a time sequence correlated to the mediapresentation.
 19. A method for providing social media on an intelligenttelevision, the method comprising: receiving one or more social mediapostings; receiving a selection of a control device on a remote controlassociated with an intelligent television; receiving, by a processor ofthe intelligent television, the selection; determining whether theselection is a first type or a second type; if the selection is a firsttype, providing a first user interface at the bottom of a display of theintelligent television, wherein the first user interface provides atleast one social media posting; and if the selection is a second type,providing a second user interface at the top of the display of theintelligent television, wherein the second user interface providesinformation associated with content being presented in the display. 20.An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable toreceive one or more social media postings; execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the social media application, the userinterface application operable to: receive a selection, wherein theselection is of a control device on a remote control associated with theintelligent television; determine whether the selection is a first typeor a second type; if the selection is a first type, provide a first userinterface at the bottom of a display of the intelligent television,wherein the first user interface provides at least one social mediaposting; and if the selection is a second type, provide a second userinterface at the top of the display of the intelligent television,wherein the second user interface provides information associated withcontent being presented in the display.
 21. A method for publishingsocial media by an intelligent television, the method comprising:displaying content by the intelligent television; receiving a selectionof a control device associated with the intelligent television; andbased on the selection, automatically publishing information about thecontent to a social media site.
 22. An intelligent television systemcomprising: a memory operable to store social media data; a processor incommunication with the memory, the processor operable to: execute a userinterface application operable to: display content by the intelligenttelevision; receive a selection of a control device associated with theintelligent television; and execute a social media application incommunication with the user interface application, the social mediaapplication operable to: based on the selection, automatically publishinformation about the content to a social media site.
 23. A method forproviding social media on an intelligent television, the methodcomprising: receiving one or more social media postings; receiving, by aprocessor of the intelligent television, a selection to provide a socialmedia application; determining a state associated with a social mediaposting; providing a user interface, for the social media application,having the social media posting displayed based on the state.
 24. Anintelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a social media application operable to:receive one or more social media postings; determine a state associatedwith a social media posting; execute a user interface application incommunication with the social media application, the user interfaceapplication operable to: receive a selection to provide a social mediaapplication; and provide a user interface, for the social mediaapplication, having the social media posting displayed based on thestate.